EDSA 'revolution' cost Filipinos dearly for their emo politics

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Several years ago, a Singaporean told me, “EDSA cost you Filipinos more than you can ever imagine.” His reason was, Marcos was actually on the right track preparing the country for industrialization. The export processing zone in the Philippines was among the first and we were ahead of most of our neighbors. There was even a nuclear power plant ready to be turned on which can supply the power demands of electronic factories cheaply. But we kept protesting. So, instead of establishing the Philippines as a manufacturing base, most US companies invested in Singapore instead. For example, Seagate which was the major hard drive manufacturer in the 1990′s supplied more than half of Singapore’s income for more than a decade. He said, Philippines could have been the Singapore of Southeast Asia. Philippines could have been the rich guy in the block. But lucky for Singapore, we Filipinos kept protesting on the streets, while they limited their disagreements in the comedy clubs.

[Commented on Get Real Post.]

Comments

  1. AnonymousMarch 9, 2012 at 4:07 PM

    I hope this Singaporean wakes up one morning and finds himself living in the Philippines during Marcos' regime. He doesnt know what he's talking about for sure. Marcos was on the right track?!!! Maybe for the first 6 years of his 20 year term, when he wasnt busy getting rich and arresting those who opposed him. Nuclear plant?!!! I think this Singaporean is also crazy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousMarch 9, 2012 at 7:55 PM

    I hope that this person above me realizes that the foundation of almost all infrastractures of this country was due to Marcos' efforts in Philippine industrialization..Or maybe, you belong to the ignorant many that doesn't care about the current condition of our country and instead waste their time watching crappy telenovelas and trusting manipulative media..Wake up, what the Singaporean saying is true..Bitter pill to swallow, isn't it?.Go study more about politics and such. Don't wallow yourself about stupid ideas.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 9, 2012 at 8:06 PM

    Stupid column!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMarch 9, 2012 at 9:20 PM

    I hope that this person above me adds another sentence: Stupid person above me! Infrastructure doesn't come with an "s" at the end even if you mean several projects. Yes, during Marcos time, a lot of buildings were constructed, roads and other infrastructure projects were finished - but at what cost? Not too much, we Filipinos and our children and their children (and it could go on and on) are just paying and will have to continue to pay the debts Marcos was responsible for.

    And who is this Singaporean? One can easily quote another person.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 12:39 AM

    stupid anonymous #2, 3/9 12:55am. Most Filipinos do not trust manipulative media, something we learned during that president's dictatorship. Filipinos dont owe Marcos for his efforts as president, it was his job! Instead Marcos owed the Filipino people. Power made him greedy, made him a murderer and a dictator. If you believed in Marcos so much, you can try living in China or North Korea, they have leaders you'll like. You dont deserve to live in a democratic country. Comparing Singapore and Philippines is plain stupid too. Better read your history books, geography books and learn politics too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 1:15 AM

      these day's we don't know the people we're supposed to trust and we don't trust the people that we're supposed to know

      Delete
  6. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 3:03 AM

    Stupid article! The blogger who wrote this obviously doesn't know what he is saying. Yes Marcos built those buildings and infrastructure that you talk about, but those would be built by any president at that time anyway. Given 20 years, I think another president would have built much more! What actually put us under is the debt the marcoses left us Filipinos. We just didn't know it because anyone who wanted to talk about it got a bullet in the head.

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 3:19 AM

    d mo alam yung tungkol sa power plant??? haist mag basabasa din kc ! ska bakit na focus kayo sa infrastructure . d lang nman un ung ibig sabihin o ung point nung blogger. pa stupid stupid pa kayo !

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 4:49 AM

    the nuclear plant didnt open because of the dangers it may cause long term, the blogger focused on marcos efforts on infrastructures and the blogger was the one who mentioned stupid first, STUPID! maybe the blogger and the Singaporean missed key events like chernobyl and fukushima, baka ikaw ang dapat magbasa, hello!

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 5:00 AM

    The point about the power plant is that, saying it was a good idea in the first place is stupid, not because hindi nya alam about it. Saying the revolution was a result of emo politics is stupid as well. Stupid kse wala sya alam at all why the revolution happened in the first place. Malamang kse the blogger said it was a Singaporean who said it, the blogger is not stupid but a disgrace for even agreeing with a stupid person thoughts.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMarch 10, 2012 at 5:07 AM

    i am a filipino. we filipinos are still ignorants, we dont care about our future, we dont prepare our children to have a better lives. we are more fond of going and taking things so easy. we dont take our jobs so seriously. filipinos abroad and filipinos left in the philippines are much diff. those who are abroad can differentiate it. those who are left in my country are still living the easy-life!~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 1:09 AM

      we're made to live the easy life because we're easy to manipulate. BUT that won't be the case if we pull ourselves together. now that's a different story!

      Delete
  11. Joshua T.March 10, 2012 at 10:18 PM

    Emotions, IMO, are also standard issue equipment for humans today, but they must be used either sparingly or moderately.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 12:51 AM

    all of us filipinos are dumb crabs in a bucket and there's no bright future for us. let's celebrate by partying at the malacañang palace when Kris Aquino becomes president!! our future is so bright that it blinds us to the point where we cannot discern truth from crap! i'm so proud being a filipino and i love the way WE handle things.. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 7:32 AM

    Granting that much could have been done after EDSA '86, which unfortunately --- either by design or as a result of apathy and stupidity --- left the Philippines to as state it is currently in, is this article actually saying that Marcos shouldn't have been kicked out of Malacanang? Is it justifying the stay of Marcos amidst all the issues of abuse, cryonying (we still have it today) and corruptions that plagued his regime?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  14. AnonymousMarch 11, 2012 at 12:19 PM

    to even hint the power plant was a good idea is really beyond me. we have enough typhoons and earthquakes to deal with. this blogger should try living in japan near fukushima, he'll enjoy cheap if not free electricity. if he is so impressed with singapore, maybe he should buy a house, a car and move there instead. stop complaining if you cant do anything about it yourself. run for president, goodluck!

    ReplyDelete

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