President Fidel Valdez Ramos: A Genealogical Tribute

The 12th President of the Philippines, Fidel Valdez Ramos, passed away at the age of 94 on July 31, 2022. Although I never personally met him, I grew up hearing about him because my mother’s first cousin, my Tita Lee Lucero, became the second wife of former ambassador Narciso R. Ramos and thus FVR’s stepmother. The first and only Protestant to be elected president, FVR was also the only Filipino in history to hold every position in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, from second lieutenant to commander-in-chief. He headed the Philippine Constabulary from 1972 until 1986, chief of staff of the AFP from 1986 to 1988, and secretary of National Defense from 1988 to 1991. He served as president from June 30, 1992 to June 30, 1998.

The family history of the late president is also quite interesting and worth writing about. For instance, while history books have discussed it in the past, people still forget that President Ramos was the second cousin of President Marcos Sr. FVR’s maternal grandmother, Crispina Marcos, was the sister of Fabian Marcos, who was Marcos’s paternal grandfather. This means that President Bongbong Marcos and the daughters of FVR are third cousins.

Both Crispina and Fabian were teachers during the last quarter of Spanish rule. Crispina’s husband, Hilario Valdez, was also a teacher. During the American period, Hilario and Crispina quickly became two of the earliest teachers in Pangasinan. Hilario would be officially appointed as an insular teacher in 1904 and all eight children of Hilario and Crispina, including FVR’s mother Angela, were sent to the University of the Philippines.

On the other hand, the Ramos family descended from a line of local functionaries in Asingan, Pangasinan, who held the position of cabeza de barangay during the Spanish period. One interesting tidbit about the Ramos surname is that it was not always their family name. Although the surname Ramos can be found in Asingan from as early as the late 1700s and there is enough evidence that FVR’s family had used Ramos prior to the 1849 Claveria surname decree, they opted to adopt the surname Apelido when the decree was enforced and so for several years they were known as Apelido or Ramos Apelido. But, just like the Marcoses who also adopted another last name (Tabuebue) to comply with the decree but eventually returned to using Marcos, the family eventually dropped Apelido and resumed using Ramos.

FVR’s grandfather, Placido Ramos, though a cabeza de barangay, joined the Katipunan and fought in the historic battle of Dagupan from July 18 to 22, 1898 that brought an end to Spanish rule in the province of Pangasinan. Placido’s son, Narciso, FVR’s father, was also a known nationalist. A popular sentiment among a faction of Filipino politicians in the American period was the possibility of the Philippines becoming a part of the United States instead. When Narciso Ramos, then an assemblyman, was invited to join and support this move, he firmly declined and stressed the need for Philippine independence. Perhaps this is also the reason why the West Point-educated Fidel Valdez Ramos, though entitled to join the US Army, decided instead to return to the Philippines and serve in his country’s army.

FVR, who came from a family of educators, leaders, and nationalists, would forever be known as one of the major players of the People Power of 1986. However history will judge him, it cannot be denied that he was instrumental in breathing life into the Philippine economy, earning us the moniker “Tiger Cub Economy in Asia.”

Vaya con Dios, President Ramos!