To avoid war, keep American forces out of here

BEFORE the headline topic, an anecdotal tribute to our beloved 12th president Fidel Valdez Ramos (FVR) from this writer's mother, Noemi Lirag Saludo, the first woman president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who served in PCCI's centennial year in 2004.

For the chamber's Philippine Business Conference (PBC), held every October, Saludo invited then-Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamed as keynote speaker, but was initially rejected. She then approached FVR on one of his golfing rounds, asking if he might initial her second invitation letter to Mahathir.