The Problem Of The ONE-SIDED Anti-Marcos Narrative

 

Before you react - know that I don't have any political color right now. This is NOT an attempt to exonerate the Marcos Years of the BRUTAL CRIMES that they've committed. Rather, this is to have a more fair view of history. I'm not going to deny that the late Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. was indeed a tyrant. Now, there's more outrage from ABiaS-CBN's very own Toni Gonzaga when she interviewed Bongbong Marcos on her Youtube channel. Yes, until now, ABiaS-CBN is still OPEN FOR BUSINESS even after its franchise was revoked due to the lousy 1987 Constitution. Now, the recent reactions done towards Toni herself are so uncalled for. Sure, I want to hear the talks from martial law victims. However, not every person arrested during martial law was innocent such as Jose Maria Sion. Maybe, until now, the late Ninoy Aquino's status as a hero is debatable yet he also revealed the truth that the Marcos Years were NOT under a real parliamentary. 

Let us restudy the Marcos Years even more based on an economic angle

Why a restudy about the Marcos Years? This is AGAIN (and yes, I'm looking at all the anonymous trolls out there) to think about why the Marcos Years sucked. It's not enough to say that the Marcos Years weren't the golden years - you need to know a bigger picture of WHY they weren't the golden years. I don't deny that there were plenty of illegal detention, plenty of theft to where I don't deny the ill-gotten wealth, but do we know a bigger picture of why the Marcos Years sucked? Do we know why Marcos had a lot of power to start with? 

The Marcos Years were established on one economic policy - it was grounded on ECONOMIC PROTECTIONISM. That's why I suggested that IF you love protectionism then why not declare Marcos' birthday a HOLIDAY? The rampant cronyism wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for Marcos' PROTECTIONIST policies. Marcos had enforced the policies of the "hero" Carlos P. Garcia (who died in 1971) during that time. It's stupid to praise Garcia and hate Marcos - both of them shouldn't even be buried at the Libingan Ng Mga Bayani! Yet, both of them deserve to have their corpses near each other. Do you think Marcos could have cronies if he was welcoming of foreign direct investments (FDI)?

It's not enough to say that Marcos stole. Yes, Marcos stole but that's not the only point why the Philippines sank into deep doo-doo even after the Marcos Administration was overthrown. The massive Marcos plunder was even more possible with economic protectionism. Yes, Marcos stole money but do you think what he stole could affect the economy IF it wasn't protectionist? The Marcos Wealth was filled with ill-gotten gain and BAD DEBTS. Economic protectionism made it even more possible for the damage to be worse. If there were more jobs and more investments - the Philippines could've already paid back the debts of the Marcoses years ago. 

Instead, it has become a stupid fad to simply wait for the Marcos Wealth to be recovered like Juan Tamad waits for the guava to fall from the tree. It's pretty much stupid for this reason - are we sure that the Marcoses don't have bad debts? Also, even if it was seized back but can the Marcos wealth really provide jobs for Filipinos in contrast to free market economics? Chances are that the Marcos Wealth may be full of bad debts attached to it. Chances are that it may not even be enough to pay whatever debts the Philippines has incurred either. 

Yet, we fail to see the post-Marcos narrative of the Aquinos

It became a fad to celebrate the late Corazon C. Aquino as an icon of democracy. However, that was what Cory truly was - a SYMBOL of democracy. Until now, it should be baffling to anybody whose observed a legitimate parliament. Cory was more fit to be the CHIEF REPRESENTATIVE of the Filipino people like Singapore's president, Halimah Yacob, is the chief representative of Singapore. One can argue that Cory was supposedly "squeaky clean" which I find laughable. True, Cory had no experience in assassinating political opponents but she had NO EXPERIENCE in making important decisions for the country. That alone should be a no brainer that Cory was more fit to be the president in a parliamentary system than a president in a presidential system. Cory could've served as the chief representative of the Philippines with no real powers while Fidel V. Ramos could be the prime minister for some time.

One could think about why the Cory Years weren't the golden years either. True, the Marcoses left a lot of garbage BUT do we know why the damage wasn't easy to fix? The 1987 Constitution was HURRIEDLY WRITTEN. Cory had no experience in politics and should've remained symbolic all throughout while Ramos called the shots as the prime minister. Unfortunately, Cory ended up making some faulty decisions like the libel case with the late Louis Beltran or how she didn't even know how to handle the coup against her. Later, the late Soledad R. Duterte (the president's mother) ended up also joining the resign Cory movement while she was a strong participant in the EDSA movement. Interestingly, Ninoy was also a co-founder of PDP-Laban. 

We need to face it that the OFW program (which was popularized during the Marcos Years) was still RAMPANT. Shouldn't it have been time to more than just return the businesses back the rightful owners? Cory's administration should be credited for returning the businesses to the rightful owners. However, the continuing of economic protectionism (to a certain extent) by limiting the industries that could invest in the Philippines or require a Filipino partner to own a bigger share were damaging. It was quite a contrast to what was going on with the neighboring countries of the Philippines in terms of economics. 

More and more Filipinos started taking courses not because they wanted to but to GO ABROAD. It made me think about how many of my classmates wanted to take up nursing to GO ABROAD. The Philippines simply can't afford the salary of nurses in other countries. I'm amazed at how leftist groups complain that nurses abroad have bigger salaries yet they refuse to truly open up the economy. I remembered wanting to take Information Technology (while I sucked at the knowledge needed for it) for the same reason - I wanted to GO ABROAD and say goodbye to the Philippines!

Eventually, the death of Cory propelled the late Noynoy Aquino to become the newest presidential candidate in 2010. President Rodrigo R. Duterte even helped both Noynoy and Mar Roxas in their campaign when the former was still Davao's mayor. One can say that Noynoy had his achievements. Right now, I think Get Real Philippines has an unfair assessment of Noynoy. Though, one can't also deny that Noynoy also managed to keep blaming Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. True, Noynoy did manage to give a good economy but there were other sectors that needed to be liberated. Also, the OFW phenomenon was still going on and didn't reduce significantly. True, Noynoy left the Philippines with a high gross domestic product (GDP) yet the refusal to OPEN UP the economy further (such as utilities) left Filipinos with still expensive utilities. Sorry to say but GDP ALONE is not a good indicator of welfare. High GDP is good economics but that alone isn't the best way to measure ANY PRESIDENT in overall performance. What's the use of high GDP if more Filipinos are still separated from their families to provide for them?

It's really dumb to keep demonizing the Marcoses when the Aquinos haven't fully learned at all. I mean, Noynoy should've focused on removing the negative list entirely to solve the problem of the high cost of utility. The Bataan Nuclear Plant could've been converted into another kind of plant through FDI. The Philippines would have better Internet through FDI. It's all about the supply and demand angle. So it doesn't matter much if Noynoy left a high GDP if he didn't decide to move to remove the negative list. If so, the Aquinos are continuing the Marcos protectionist policies too. 

No constitutional reform unless no Marcos or Aquino is in power?

When is the best right time to reform the constitution by correcting its FLAWS? It really is the question that has become too long without an answer. I really must laugh at the argument of both Marcostards and Aquinotards in that question. For the Marcostards - they may want to have no reform until all Aquinos are not in power. For the Aquinotards - they think that no reform must happen until all the Marcoses are out of power. This is really funny considering that Kris Aquino even interviewed Bongbong back in the 1990s! Even more, the mindset is built on personality-based politics than credibility-based politics. I mean, should it matter if Bam Aquino is an Aquino or if the next candidate for the presidency is Bongbong? If Bam and Bongbong can do good then why not?

I guess this mindset results in passing new band-aid solution laws. Can you imagine would have a petition on Change.org to pass an anti-Marcos law (and in extension, an anti-Duterte law) or an anti-Aquino law? I really don't see the logic of it at all. I'm laughing at the thought of how the House of Representatives ends up with a law to review called the Anti-Marcos Law and another law called the Anti-Aquino Law. It really would be unfair to demonize someone all because of the sin of their forefathers like the Marcoses for the despot or the Aquinos because of their blood relation to Kris. I mean, is Noynoy an OA drama queen like Kris? Noynoy had his weaknesses but he definitely had way better manners than Kris.

Instead, the best time to change the constitution is now. Would it really matter if a Marcos or an Aquino rises in parliament? Would it matter if Bongbong or Bam became members of the Philippine Parliament? It wouldn't matter much because both Aquinos and Marcoses will not be judged by their family names but by their merit. If Bongbong or Bam can be a good prime minister then why not? I mean, I would't mind the Liberal Party becoming the government or the opposition as long as it's a parliamentary system. The issue is more of the presidential system that resulted in trapos, balimbings, personality-based politics, and all the heaping corruption to begin with.