Corazon Aquino Could've Taken Pointers From Lee Kuan Yew

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It's women's month and it's very easy to brag about how the late Cory Aquino is the Philippines' first woman president, right? Unfortunately, presidential systems don't make the best of people regardless of gender. If anything, the overthrow of the Marcos "golden years" wouldn't be so bad if the replacement was good. Cory herself could've been set as a head of state and maybe Fidel V. Ramos could've been prime minister under the 1987 Philippine PARLIAMENTARY constitution. Sadly, we have the 1987 PRESIDENTIAL constitution which Hilarious Davide erroneously calls as the "best constitution in the world".

A review of history itself would reveal that Cory herself had visited the "tyrant", the late political champion Lee Kuan Yew. Meeting with Lee, Cory herself could've taken some pointers from him on how to run the Philippines better. She had a Philippines battered by the 20 years of poor quality rule by the Marcoses. What made Marcos bad was not his 20 years regime but the quality of it. Lee ruled longer than Marcos and made Singapore into a progressive state. Mahathir Mohamad ruled for more than 20 years and made Malaysia a model archipelago for the Philippines.

What pointers could've Cory taken? Take note that she too also met with Deng Xiaoping. Deng himself was a commie in some way yet he implemented economic policies that made China rise from its rather poor state. Did you know that the Philippines used to be richer than China and Singapore? Sadly, the Filipino First Policy and the Marcos Years built the foundation for its economic decline. Cory herself could've taken down notes from Lee on how to improve the economy like Deng did. Although Deng foolishly continued the presidential-unitary system for China - he did adopt the free trade market policy which caused China to overtake the Philippines.

The Dilawans themselves still have the nerve to talk about Lee's quote against the Marcoses. However, they still refuse to correct that mistake that Carlos P. Garcia started namely the "Filipino First" policy (better yet Failipino First policy because it's making Filipinos FAIL hard) by continuing with the excessive restrictions towards foreign investors. Cory herself could've made a standing out achievement if she took notes from Lee and APPLIED them to her country. She could've opened the economy to foreign investors which would've turned the Philippines into a tiger economy. Then again, she was better off as a symbolic president while somebody like Fidel V. Ramos could've served better as the prime minister of a post-Marcos Philippines.