President Corazon Aquino endorsed former Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos today as her successor in an announcement expected to set off a mad round of politicking before the May 11 election.

Ramos, a 63-year-old West Point graduate, helped lead the 1986 uprising that toppled his cousin, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, and propelled Aquino to power.

As chief of staff and defense secretary, Ramos stood by Aquino through seven coup attempts.

There are already 19 declared candidates, including Marcos’ widow, Imelda. The crowded field has raised concerns that the next president will take office June 30 with a weak mandate. There is no runoff.


“My choice springs not from a personal whim but from a conviction that the next leader must preserve these gains,” Aquino said after a Mass marking her 59th birthday.

She chose Ramos over House Speaker Ramon Mitra and Marcelo Fernan, the former Supreme Court chief justice. Both are members of the party allied with Aquino, but they said they will stay in the race despite her choice.

Ramos has pledged to continue the spirit of the “people power revolution” that restored democratic institutions after the 20-year Marcos administration.

Influential figures in the Roman Catholic hierarchy oppose Ramos, a Protestant, because he served as commander of the Constabulary, or national police, during martial law, which Marcos imposed from September, 1972, until January, 1981.


This past Nov. 30, Mitra defeated Ramos in a straw vote within the pro-administration Struggle of the Democratic Filipino. The party opened its nominating convention today, and leaders of the group vowed to stick by Mitra.

“Members will consolidate behind Speaker Mitra and give him full support in his bid for the presidency,” party spokesman Hernani Perez said.