Ex-Pres. Fidel Ramos gets honorary doctorate in Tokyo

Former Philippine President Fidel Ramos received an honorary doctorate in International Studies from the J.F. Oberlin University Yotsuya campus in Tokyo, Japan. The Philippine Embassy in Tokyo said J.F. Oberlin President Toyoshi Satow conferred the award on Ramos on August 3. "In his remarks at the ceremony, President Ramos conveyed his sympathies to the Japanese people who are facing the aftermath of the Great East Japan earthquake," the embassy said. "He expressed his confidence that the 'Japanese nation and its capable and highly-disciplined people will rise from this massive tragedy stronger than ever before,'" the embassy added. Ramos also said the March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami “have reminded people around the world to become more caring, sharing, and daring for each other." He stressed the need for teamwork amid the challenges facing the world such as disasters, volatile food and energy supplies, poverty, and global warming. Ramos also stressed the role of educational institutions in nurturing the planet’s most important assets—“educated…and empowered people." Philippine Ambassador Manuel Lopez, Maria Teresa Lopez, officers, and staff of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo attended the conferment ceremony. J.F. Oberlin University, named after Lutheran pastor and philanthropist Jean Frederic Oberlin, is a private, bilingual, co-educational institution founded in 1946 by Yasuzo Shimizu, an alumnus of Oberlin College in Ohio, USA. It is committed to the idea of “internationalism" and offers programs with “a practical understanding of other countries and people and an international outlook. The university has Filipino students and has an agreement for academic exchange with the Ateneo de Manila University. Book launching While in Tokyo, Ramos also addressed and co-chaired the “Emerging Markets Forum Asia 2050 Book Launch Seminar" hosted by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) last August 1. The ASIA 2050 book is a comprehensive study that forecasts the outcomes of economies in 49 Asia-Pacific economies by 2050. "The Emerging Market Forum (EMF) is a non-profit initiative organized in 2005 by the Washington-based Centennial Group to fill the need the need for an international platform that will bring together government and corporate leaders and top officials of regional and global institutions for a high-level dialogue on key socio-economic, environmental, and political issues facing emerging markets and providing actionable recommendations," the embassy said. The incumbent co-chairs of the EMF are Ramos, Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda, Former IMF Managing Director Michael Camdessus, and CAF-Latin American Development Bank President Enrique Garcia. - VVP, GMA News