Unfortunately, IMHO, the promise died that same day in 1986. It also paved way to greed and mediocre leadership. It created a mockery of Philippine politics and it extinguished the future of the martial law babies. The same citizens who are flooding the gates to get out of our beautiful country.I remember thinking back then, it is unfortunate Marcos got old. A dictator by any other name, but, he was the last of his kind. There is not one politician these days that can fill his shoes as far as commanding respect and can hold the same stature as a leader. He created a regime of the Philippine Heart Center, cultural awareness and world presence, technical high schools and the the Marikina shoe industry, major bridges and highways, Green Revolution and a Social Security System that actually worked. Most of which are still in effect up to this day. Over the years when the scale was tipped with graft and corruption, murders and false political imprisonment, all the good was simply or conveniently forgotten. Then it is all about the shoes.
The very people who got the most of being cronies quickly turned sides, handed him over and washed their hands. Marcos is the bad guy and they, the heroes. The whole Edsa situation empowered the people who feel that they can overthrow anyone in office. The result? Corruption happens in record time and in record magnitude. Our politics has become a miasma of manipulators, liars, thieves, kidnappers, and false media. The legitimate leaders and true visionaries are sidelined by the ones who can put on a good show. The politician that can do the best otcho-otcho wins.
I have never been big on blaming others for my misfortunes just like I do not blame Marcos for our country's downfall. The Filipino people as a whole need to stop pointing fingers. We need to take the blame and find it in our hearts how to make our country prosper again, and maybe one day the exodus will be reversed. To start, we need to take elections seriously. It is the single most powerful civil liberty that we take for granted. We need to vote for people who have strong platform and a good vision on where we need to be and know how to get there. Businessmen, lawyers, economists and even teachers have the potential. I have a real problem with boxers and actors who never even finish college running for public office. I have a problem with known criminals and philanderers being on the ballot. If they do not know how to run their own lives, how can we expect them to run our country? If they cannot follow simple moral laws, how can we trust them to implement our constitution? How can we look up to leaders we cannot even respect? How can we respect a leader who is mocked by a gay impersonator on TV regularly? Marcos would never have tolerated such travesty; neither would the late Garcia, Macapagal nor Magsaysay.
But what do I know? It is just one opinion. I believe the Tiger is only sleeping. I hope one day someone will rise in our midst and make us great again. We do not lack the potential. We lack focus and discipline.
