A WEEK before the 31st anniversary of the first day of the four-day Edsa Revolution, the 372-page FVR XYZ Files will be launched today at the Hexagon Lounge of the RCBC Plaza in Makati City.
The book is published by the Ramos Peace and Development Foundation and Media Touchstone Ventures Inc.
The book is a compemdium of controversies and issues, anecdotes and trivia about Fidel Ramos, son of former Foreign Secretary Narciso Ramos of Pangasinan and Angela Marcos Valdez of Ilocos Norte.
Many know him as a staunch defender of freedom and democracy, having led, with then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, the revolt that toppled Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.
Others remember his battle cry of Philippines 2000, his unlit roll of tobacco and the push-ups he oftentimes greets people with.
There are also those who know him through his minute intricacies such as his thumbs-up sign, his elongated ears and his many impersonators.
Ramos says of the book: “I see this volume of my anecdotes, stories and quotes, XYZ Files, as just this: a non-political, non-invasive tool for people empowerment.
“It is my honor to continue my advocacy as a military officer defending our country, and as former President. As I have always said before, I may have retired from office, but I have vowed to continue to be a reformer.”
XYZ Files is split three-fold.
The first part talks about certain trivia about him. How did the former president acquire his nickname “Eddie”?
What does he love to do when he is not working on official matters? These questions, among a host of many others, get fervent and interesting replies that seek to uncover the person behind the push-ups and the red pen.
The second part deals with the many controversies and issues he dealt with – and addressed – during his term.
Ramos himself says “Problems are opportunities in disguise that needed to be solved decisively. Because our present situation is in many ways unprecedented, and we have no examples to look back on, no models to replicate, we need a new outlook, a level of creativity as unprecedented as the problems that confront us, so that we may solve them decisively and take advantage of the opportunities for change our new democracy offers.”
The last part, the anecdotes, revisits countless stories that have been told of the former president by journalists and media men, colleagues in the industry, and his family members.