The Problem Of Wanting The Philippines To Become "Another Singapore" While REJECTING THE SYSTEM That Made Singapore Great

I find it funny that most of the anti-Duterte pages and the leftist pages (and again, I'm not blasting them for being anti-Duterte but because all they know is to WHINE) even raise SINGAPORE. Wait, I thought the Filipino leftists hate Singapore because of the "martyrdom" of "St." Flor Contemplacion? Just now, I guess, in order to have something to say, decided to compare PRESIDENT Rodrigo R. Duterte's leadership to the superior leadership of PRIME MINISTER Lee Hsien Loong. I guess the people of pages such as Change Scamming, Silent No More PH, Bantay Nakaw, and Pignoy Ako Blog (which all of these support Antonio F. Trillanes IV) still think it's all about the leaders, not the SYSTEM itself. This is where the anti-Duterte pages don't fit well with the late Duterte critic, Carlos Celdran gets it. Celdran was a Liberal Party supporter and a Yellow. However, Celdran pointed out one flaw and that's the 1987 Constitution!

I would like to put the critics of both the late Noynoy Aquino and Duterte into a common discussion. Critics of Noynoy point out that if he was so great then why isn't the Philippines in the Top 10 or Top 20 best countries. Critics of Duterte likewise fire shots that if the Philippines is now like Singapore then why the prices of goods have increased in contrast to the time of Noynoy and why is there still RAMPANT corruption? The answer isn't always about who heads the Philippines but the kind of SYSTEM that rules the Philippines. If they want to have another Singapore - they have to accept the system that made Singapore a great country. They want a better, progressive country but they don't want to follow the SYSTEM that made Singapore a progressive nation. 

Some of them even go as far as to lie such as saying, "Foreign investments and parliamentary didn't play a role in making Singapore great. It was just because Lee Kuan Yew wasn't corrupt like Marcos!" That's where they're dead wrong - very DEAD WRONG! They don't realize how the Singaporean parliament works and how foreign investments played a GREAT ROLE in the development of Singapore.

How the Singaporean parliament shaped Singapore

It would take more than to know that the late Lee Kuan Yew himself highly criticized the rule of the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. However, the critics fail to see that Lee Kuan Yew actually pointed out how much Cesar Virata wasn't truly a leader in parliament in his book From Third World to First. Meanwhile, Lee Kuan Yew was leading a real parliament in Singapore from 1959 even before Marcos came to power. Marcos ruled from 1965-1986. Lee Kuan Yew ruled much LONGER than Marcos did. Once again, the problem has NEVER BEEN the length of the rule but the QUALITY of the rule. Marcos' 20 years of dictatorship robbed the Philippines dry. Lee Kuan Yew's 31-year rule created the Singapore that it is today. That's a big difference there was that Marcos' parliament was still a PRESIDENTIAL SYSTEM while Lee Kuan Yew's regime was a REAL PARLIAMENT. Lee Kuan Yew ruled before Marcos and even after Marcos. Look where it got Singapore itself. It's because the parliamentary system LIMITS the powers of the Government with a REAL WORKING OPPOSITION that holds the government accountable. Lee was able to rule 31 years without becoming a dictator because he always had to answer to his critics in the form of the Opposition. 

Now, it's time to think of the reign of Lee Hsien Loong, son of the great Lee Kuan Yew. This proves political dynasties aren't necessarily a bad thing. Some people are too obsessed with political dynasties never mind that Noynoy is the son of the late Corazon Cojuangco-Aquino while objecting to Sara Duterte-Carpio for president. In a parliamentary system - political dynasties don't matter IF family members can serve just as well. It wouldn't be an issue if Noynoy were a prime minister back then and his cousin Bam Aquino was part of his Government. It wouldn't be an issue if Duterte were a prime minister now and his children were part of his Government. The only problem with presidential political dynasties is how Noynoy's death could be politicized or even used to urge Kris Aquino (or worse, her eldest son Joshua Aquino) to file for a candidacy even if neither is qualified. Those who want Kris to be president are really asking for their own graves. Another stupidity might be that Arlene Orejana-Trillanes may end up running for president if ever Antonio F. Trillanes IV should get shot before 2022.

Now, it would be a good time to review the reign of Lee Hsien Loong. Lee Hsien Loong's reign started in 2004 and he's still the prime minister NOW under FIVE TERMS. Yup, Lee Hsien Loong has ruled Singapore for 17 years and he's no despot like the late Emperor Kim Jung Il. Lee Hsien Loong was the prime minister during the reign of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Noynoy, and Duterte. Gloria ruled for nine years - three years after Joseph Estrada was deposed via EDSA-2 and six years under election. Noynoy ruled for six years. Duterte is about to finish his six years. Guess what? Did that frequent change of leadership REALLY do much? Daang Matuwid in six years? Change Has Come in three months? Those are really too good to be true like the double your money scam. In fact, every presidential promise for change is better renamed as #ChangeScamming. The clamor for one more term under Noynoy came in but what happened? Now, some people are fighting for one more term under Duterte. Now, one must observe how many projects under Noynoy are now being finished by Duterte and the question is who's going to finish the projects left unfinished by Duterte? 

It's because the parliamentary system does two things - it LIMITS the powers of the prime minister AND removes unnecessary term limits. How can a real, LEGITIMATE prime minister (unlike Marcos) abuse his or her power IF the Opposition is at a frequent watch and they face off against each other every week? Even better, the prime minister is set in a dilemma where a vote of no confidence is really very real. Either the prime minister upholds the confidence of the whole legislative or is forced out of the executive. If a prime minister does good then he or she can have the privilege of term renewal. Parliament may be dissolved when the term is over but the person can have another term after that term is over. The only conditions that keep a person in parliament would be either the performance or the capacity to serve. Those incapable of serving are no longer eligible for another term.

How Singapore arose from poverty by INVITING foreign investors and easing restrictions

It's a fatal assumption done by some economic neanderthals that first-world countries emerged by protectionism and only after becoming rich did they accept foreign investments. The sequence is just dead wrong. For the ever-clueless Benign0 of Get Real Philippines - he thinks that Filipinos need to develop their industries first or learn to be business-savvy before opening up the economy. Rigoberto Tiglao also makes the same wrong assumption. Instead, one must study the history of Singapore and China. In fact, Deng Xiaoping met Lee Kuan Yew during his lifetime. Deng decided to implement a new communist manifesto. Deng decided enough of rich shaming and said, "Poverty is not communism - to be rich is glorious." Such a statement would make Filipino communists cringe while they enjoy luxury products at the same time. Instead, Deng decided to open Communist China for business to repair the damage done by his predecessor Mao Zedong.

Lee Kuan Yew didn't implement a Singaporean First Policy. Instead, he decided to invite multinational corporations. Okay, one can argue that the negative list in the Philippines has been modified throughout the years. Fidel V. Ramos up to Noynoy all worked to a certain extent to get rid of them. However, the big mistake was that 60-40 is still applied in some VERY IMPORTANT sectors such as public utilities. The cost of utilities is still very high due to HIGH DEMAND AND LOW SUPPLY. Do you wonder why your electric bills are still very high and the Internet is still so slow? It's because of too many Filipinos and too low a supply. Now only if Noynoy (or even Ramos) could've knock that off during his rule or maybe he did prepare that but it was DELAYED thanks to stupid lawmakers. The law of supply and demand can't be changed by ANY PRESIDENT. In short, if one must blame Duterte for inflations - point the cause and not just say, "Hey, it's Duterte's fault!" Lee Kuan Yew's invitation of foreign investors into Singapore helped provide more jobs and taxable income for Singapore.

What made Lee Kuan Yew better than Marcos isn't just because he was supposedly "incorruptible". Nobody is incorruptible. Instead, not only was it because Lee Kuan Yew was in parliament but it was also because he supported free markets. Lee Kuan Yew didn't want the establishment of an oligarchy. Instead, he viewed foreign investors as tenants to his country. This allowed more Singaporeans to have jobs in their own countries. Singaporeans didn't go around the world looking for remittances. Instead, Singapore invited foreign investors to provide jobs for Singaporeans instead. 

Not to mention, more discipline than democracy

Democracy is a wonderful thing only if there's discipline to keep it running well. One of the reasons why Singapore is very orderly is not only because of good economics but also good discipline. Are we sure that those pages criticizing Duterte and wanting us to become "another Singapore" REALLY want this discipline? It reminded me of the article I wrote where I said Filipinos need more discipline than democracy. What I didn't realize is that my article written by a nobody like me would eventually get shared a lot for some time. Though, I could address no amount of discipline will work if the economy is in shambles. How can anti-mendicancy laws be of any effect if people are becoming so poor and job opportunities are so low? Sometimes, some people have no choice but to beg especially if job opportunities are that scarce.

How can discipline actually really do better? It's because discipline is part of good economics. I remembered the time I was a spendthrift teenager. My parents restricted my allowance and never gave me more. I used to envy those spoiled brats who had a near-unlimited allowance. The results for the spoiled brats were disastrous. The spoiled brats didn't know how to value money. Meanwhile, I was given my allowance, I was made to help out in the modest family business, made mistakes here and there, and realized that if I didn't learn financial discipline - that bad debt could've killed us. Some people end up making mistakes like lending money to an untrustworthy person. That discipline helped me to learn from experience from those mistakes. That discipline also helped me avoid double-your-money schemes and start putting my money in legitimate investment schemes. The same kind of discipline can help Filipinos become better with money. Filipinos can start to learn to be business-savvy with economic liberalization. The next thing is that because employment opportunities increase - more Filipinos will get the chance to learn to handle. Sure, some may waste the money but if everyone is getting employed then they will start to learn to handle the money better. The OFW families tend to be "biglang yaman". However, if everyone within the age of majority is getting employed (even without a college diploma) then they will learn how to handle money better if they were earning the money themselves. 

The highly disciplined society of Singapore is what Filipinos need to also maintain that progress - not just opening up the economy. I think problems like leftists vandalizing left and right can be remedied by caning or letting them clean their own mess. I think many habits Filipinos have such as noise pollution and the like will be reduced if they had hefty fines along with it. Filipinos would become a highly disciplined society if Singaporean-style discipline is implemented. The problem is if they want a state as progressive and safe as Singapore BUT they don't want to be disciplined as well as accept the parliamentary system and foreign investments.