Looking beyond May 2016

The election campaigns in the Philippines for next year’s presidential election has already started and it is not surprising that the campaign will grow stronger for the coming last quarter this year.  This is also the same with the United States wherein the democratic system of the Philippines is primarily followed like the election system in United States. Both countries have similarities and differences in terms of election system.

One of the similarities between the two countries is that the good candidate who deserves to win in the election doesn’t win very often. The history of the Philippines consists of different personalities who should never sit in the position as a president. One typical example is the former president Ferdinand Marcos who declared martial law. During his very long term as the president of the Philippines that started in year 1965, the Philippines became the second richest country in Asia after Japan. After the domination of Marcos as a president for twenty one long years, the economics and politics in the declined and the country was labeled as an ill country of Asia.

It is not a fact that that martial law was very helpful to the Philippines but it had actually led a worst situation. There is also no truth that Filipinos is naturally having poor performance that other Asians. It is true that the Marcos domination in the country caused so much trouble in the Philippines. When the next president Corazon Aquino led the Philippines, she made major changes in the Philippines which made the country revive their democracy, took away capitalism and gave a better future for the Filipino people.

E. Cruz