It's no secret that the Marcoses have their WELL-DOCUMENTED history of HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES. It seems to be a day of victory (at least, for the Yellowtards) that Ferdiandn "Bobong" R. Marcos Jr. has lost the protest the third time. It's useless really when you think elections are just around the corner. Is Bobong really going to be used as the new boogeyman to avoid the shift to parliamentary? It might be a cause to celebrate but do we really know bigger reasons why the Marcos Years were NOT the golden years?
What's NEVER or HARDLY mentioned is that the Marcos Years allowed the OFW Phenomenon to flourish since it was a protectionist regime. Economic protectionism also allowed the Marcos years' human rights violations to flourish like there was no tomorrow. Marcos' regime shouldn't just be noted for arresting political rivals or for confiscating companies. Would the Marcos Administration confiscate those companies IF they were for free markets? Instead, the Marcos Administration did what they did such as confiscate certain companies (which included ABiaS-CBN) because they were a HIGHLY PROTECTIONIST REGIME. Marcos was no less of a protectionist freak like Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler. The reason why Marcos' regime also sunk to inflation and unpaid debts was because of ECONOMIC PROTECTIONISM.
It might also be time to really ask a question towards those rejoicing over Bobong's defeat. What good will Bobong's defeat do for the Philippines? Will it turn the Philippines into a first world country? Are we still going to sit idly and wait for the Marcos wealth to be recovered and returned to the Philippines' treasury? Are we still going to whine all day wishing the Marcos Years never happened? Instead, it's MORE THAN TIME to reverse Marcos' oligarch protectionist policies such as removing unreasonable restrictions towards foreign investors. Foreigners should be allowed to invest WITHOUT a Filipino partner while restrictions such as land purchase (since after all, they're to be treated as tenants) and compliace to just and fair labor laws should be the key to help the Philippines' recover without the ill-gotten Marcos Wealth.
Unfortunately this will fall on deaf ears (or blind eyes?). Most Filipinos (even the ´bright ones´) are not that familiar with free market principles. The economic status of the country has already gone a long way down into the rabbit hole that almost nobody really cares about the topics which should be focused on. Which makes most people focus on just ´surviving´. Basta may makain, okay na kami dun, ika nga. Demasiadong pragmatiko. Pang short-term lang ang iniisip.
ReplyDeleteLagi nalang ´Eh nung araw panahon ni Apo Lakay may nutribun!!!´ or something like ´eh nung araw kc yung mga tao disiplinado tayo pa nga tinitingalaan ng mga asian country, 2nd to Japan tayo eh!!! 2nd to Japan nung panahon ni Marcos!!!´´
-Reminiscing the past wouldn´t affect the present nor the future BTW. Too passive-aggressive. Ang dami dami mong reklamo pero ayaw niyong magbago. Quoting from a song that I forgot the title.
I´m actually tired of hearing the same narrative over and over again and I have not met a single person in my life that would tackle real world solutions like constitutional reform and deploying free-market principles in our country.