Former first lady Amelita “Ming” Ramos laid to rest her husband, former president Fidel V. Ramos, after a short and solemn State Funeral on Tuesday, Aug. 9, that befitted the bigger-than-life persona of the country’s 12th president, who was also among the principal figures in the bloodless People Power Revolution of 1986, and an accomplished soldier with a remarkable military career.
After sealing the former president’s tomb at exactly 11:43 a.m., one-and-a-half hours after the bronze casket bearing his urn was taken from the chapel of the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City, the former first lady thanked the military for the honors given to her husband.
“Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat, sa tulong niyo. Alam niyo mahirap ang buhay sa military. Pero kinaya namin. Tumulong si President Ramos, kayang-kaya niya at (Thank you to all of you, for your help. You know, life in the military is hard. But we did it. President Ramos helped, he easily did it and) he was able to raise five daughters, 8 grandsons and 5 granddaughters,” Mrs. Ramos said as she addressed the crowd.
She admitted how hard it was to adjust to the former president’s schedule when he was still with the military. Ramos used to spend two years in the house, two years in the province, and then, volunteered for two years in the Vietnam War, according to her.
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“Kaya ba natin (Can we do it)?” Mrs. Ramos asked the crowd, who broke out in instant applause to acknowledge the late president’s often-used battle cry during his speeches.
Ramos was laid to rest at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City, with full military honors and the traditions and symbolisms of a State Funeral not seen in the country for over two decades.
While Mrs. Ramos especially acknowledged her late husband’s military career, she didn’t speak of his role in the EDSA People Power 1, which was, perhaps, one of his most well-known acts as a military man.
Ramos, together with current presidential legal adviser Juan Ponce Enrile, defected from the Marcos regime in February 1986 in an uprising that eventually led to the ouster of former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
But on Tuesday, the former president was laid to rest with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is a distant cousin, standing beside his widow. Marcos offered a salute as the military rendered its final honors for the former commander-in-chief.