Marcos; His reign vs. Noynoy's?

[boomshine]

Comparing the economy today versus during marcos era i think is hindi fair, one factor is the technology today na wala naman dati

[kisshmet]

^did u know that almost all car manufacturers left the phil during the time of marcos and only one is the exception, mitsubishi?

Go figure if the business climate was great at that time

[kisshmet]

The current mayor of LPC is the son of the former mayor whos a doctor that ventured in real estate business and a staunch marcos loyalist

Friendship route was opened as part of traffic solution to decongest the very few public roads in LP (alabang zapote rd, naga rd, coastal rd, quirino st, aguinaldo hi way) which is plied by all sorts of public conveyances. Yet again it created another problem for residents of these gated communities which is security related (devante case)

In exchange the local govt picks the trash of these gated communities not after they get taxed for it with what is known as garbage fee

[Jun aka Pekto]

The current mayor of LPC is the son of the former mayor whos a doctor that ventured in real estate business and a staunch marcos loyalist

Friendship route was opened as part of traffic solution to decongest the very few public roads in LP (alabang zapote rd, naga rd, coastal rd, quirino st, aguinaldo hi way) which is plied by all sorts of public conveyances. Yet again it created another problem for residents of these gated communities which is security related (devante case)

In exchange the local govt picks the trash of these gated communities not after they get taxed for it with what is known as garbage fee

Seems like the locals like him. He's been mayor of LPC like since, forever.

Here in Arizona, each homeowner pays $15/mo to have the garbage picked up. We also have to manually separate trash from recyclables.

[bloowolf]

The current mayor of LPC is the son of the former mayor whos a doctor that ventured in real estate business and a staunch marcos loyalist

Friendship route was opened as part of traffic solution to decongest the very few public roads in LP (alabang zapote rd, naga rd, coastal rd, quirino st, aguinaldo hi way) which is plied by all sorts of public conveyances. Yet again it created another problem for residents of these gated communities which is security related (devante case)

In exchange the local govt picks the trash of these gated communities not after they get taxed for it with what is known as garbage fee

Weren't all Mayors & all the others in public service during Marcos era Marcos loyalist? I'd guess they were. It's either you were for him or against him, & at the time, if you intend to be in public service, even just as a lowly Gov't employee, you have to be a loyalist or risk losing your job (or life). As for progress, during Marcos era, he shut off the country from the rest of the world. Sometimes,only the privileged (or those with connections) can travel abroad. News & progress from abroad were censored, foreign businesses do not want to invest here because they have to deal with the corrupt government. Before Marcos, there was no corruption. Presently, corruption is commonplace in the gov't system because Marcos put it there.

[vinj]

Since we're having lunch, I just asked my Father-in-law who has been a career DPWH employee since 1975 (he started as a working student) in how it was in their line of work before and now:

- During the Marcos years, yes there were some big ticket infrastructure projects for show, but there were even more ghost projects then one could ever imagine, but could never question.

- Now, during PNoy's time, projects are well scrutinized and yes it was slow at the start and it is far from perfect to the public but there are gains starting to show in terms of costing and transparency. The fact that some private contractors i know who had it good during the GMA years are pissed off at Pnoy or are not as high living as they once were, may say something.

During the Cory years, it was difficult to move the country due to unrest and the bankrupt national coffers inherited from 20 years of Macoy, his family, and their cronies. One point of focus was using the little funds we could get to pay off debt so we could negotiate for new debt to get the country running. Today, we are reaping a lot of what has been learned and built over the last 3 decades, post EDSA. It's not perfect but we gone a long way as a country and hopefully, we all learn and continue the long, hard journey rather than be blinded by high falluting promises and self serving agendas.

[niky]

It is incorrect to say there was no corruption before Marcos.

It is just that things came off the rails during the Marcos era, and this is where many of the modern political dynasties started to take root.

People complain about the oligarchies now, but the only difference during the Marcos era was that he disenfranchised some of the oligarchies and transferred that wealth to others. Swap one set of landlords for another.

Foreign investment was tricky because foreign businesses were wary of the economic climate, but at the time, the Philippines and Thailand were identified as important expansion markets... which is why the likes of Renault, Ford, Toyota, GM and Mitsubishi agreed to the partnership agreements created under the PCMP. Some say the eventual downfall of the PCMP was that there were too many players, and that there was too much focus on doing too much, too soon. Others cited the lack of accountability... cronies had access to too much money, too many concessions and were not beholden to be efficient or profitable.

This latter part is reflected in the success of the Thai system. Marcos supporters like to claim external global economic issues did Marcos in, but the fact remains that other countries faced the same problems and thrived. Thailand also had its growing pains in terms of automotive manufacture, but it persevered, and grew.

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Perhaps if it wasn't for the US anti-communist drive and the close connectedness of the Philippines and the US at the time, things wouldn't have snowballed like they did. But they did snowball. In the end, the Philippines was spoiled by easy access to international money, by US financial support, and a lack of accountability... the US didn't care how poorly the country was run or how despotic the government became... as long as they fought those "dirty commie bastards", everything was A-Ok.

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People complain, but nowadays, we're still paying off those Marcos-era loans... we no longer have the income from US bases... and yet, the economy is better, infrastructure buildup over the past few Presidencies has matched the twenty years of the Marcos era... and we now have the freedom to complain about how bad the traffic is.

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The next President, however, will have to continue the strengthening of the courts, will have to push the FOI and anti-dynasty bills, and will have to push for a new deal in Mindanao... as a peace agreement there is pivotal in unlocking that island's economic potential.

[anonemus]

^ Wow, niky. I totally agree with your post there, especially citing the strong influence of US in our affairs.

You should be writing or blogging more about politics. Seriously.

[Balikpinoy]

For those that need to remember...

Nearly 5 incredible photographs on People Power 1983 to 1986 in Trinoma QC up to Monday evening

[niky]

^ Wow, niky. I totally agree with your post there, especially citing the strong influence of US in our affairs.

You should be writing or blogging more about politics. Seriously.

Nah. Leave that to people with more insider info. I can examine facts and see connections, but it takes people with deeper connections in the halls of power to write about politics.

Our family has dabbled in politics... I had a relative who was a high-ranking police official during the Marcos era, and the older generation were staunch supporters of Marcos. That some of the family joined the Liberal party in the lead-up to the 86 election caused a moderate rift at the time, but that has healed somewhat. Over the years, I've participated in one local election, one congressional push and one senatorial push. Under two different parties. I've often wondered about the logic behind the Senatorial one... given, even then, you couldn't win unless you were an actor or a national politician, but as our candidate was a former PMA President, there was probably an outside chance.

The heads of the family nowadays are mostly LP boosters, though I believe the older ones are still sentimental about the Marcos era.

Still... it can't be said that the Martial Law era was bad for my clan, considering we were well-connected. But hearing their stories of those days, you get the idea that Martial Law was no more evenly applied than the law is today... in fact, it was even more one-sided, since the detractors of the government didn't live to tell their side of the story very often.

The culture of impunity, however, lives on... given how easily reporters nowadays are silenced by hired guns. But with the increasing open-ness created by the internet, CCTV cameras, cellphone and hidden cams, it's getting harder and harder to hide dirty laundry.

Still... do I want to write politics? Hell no. I'd make too many enemies. And nobody likes you criticizing their manok. If I told the truth in my column, that I think NONE of the current Presidentiables makes the grade, nobody would listen to me. :hysterical: