Fitting farewell for hero Ramos

Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos was laid to rest in a state funeral yesterday, hailed as an ex-general who backed and then helped oust a dictatorship and became a defender of democracy and a can-do reformist in his poverty-wracked country.

Ramos died July 31 at age 94 from Covid-19 complications at the Makati Medical Center in Manila. He also suffered from a heart condition and dementia and had been in and out of hospital in recent years.

An urn containing the ashes of the US-trained general, who served in the Korean and Vietnam wars, was placed in a flag-draped coffin, which was carried by six pallbearers amid somber music.

His cremated remains were placed in his grave after a procession led by honor guards and his family, which was showered with flower petals from two helicopters. The ceremony, broadcast live nationwide, was attended by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and was capped by a 21-gun salute.