Do You Think Philippines is like Singapore now if Marcos is still alive?

By Alon Calinao Dy: For more than 25 years now, many Filipinos still believe that late former president Ferdinand Marcos, who reigned from 1965 to 1986, was 'the best president ever.'

According to Marcos loyalists, the Philippines is now one of the richest lands in the world if all the parties during Marcos  regime were united. The Philippines became the top exporter of agricultural in Asia, particularly in rice. Marcos had done many infrastructure works projects during his regime than any presidents late or ahead of him.

However, during the Marcos era, there were many reported corruption, human rights violations, the communist movement of revolutionary students, military abuse, and many more.

As a result, Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972 to derail the new communist guerilla army called The New People's Army (NPA) and dissolve the ideology or principles of Mao-Tse-Tung, a well-known communist leader in China.

According to my informant, a Singaporean-Filipino official, Marcos wanted to uphold peace and order because he had a master plan for the country like Singapore. He added that the plan for the Philippines was almost the same for Singapore since Marcos and Lee Kuan Yew were best friends (a prime minister of Singapore).

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But in the eyes of The Father of Modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, Marcos was a hero who turned into a villain to his people. He stated in his autobiography that the former president actually freed Ninoy Aquino to go to the USA. Mrs. Imelda Marcos advised Aquino to stay in America because it was not safe for him to come back to the Philippines. Despite the unveiled warnings from former first lady, Ninoy just said "I would rather die on my feet with honor."

Marcos once said, " I will come up with a project that will wipe out poverty in the Philippines in two years. I want to remove the people from the economic crisis by using the Marcos wealth. Long after I'm gone, people will remember me for building their homes and roads and hospitals and giving them food."

There are what ifs in my mind right now. What if we could change the history of the Philippines? What if Ninoy and Marcos became best friends just like Marcos and Lee Kuan Yew? What if Ninoy did not die? What if there were no EDSA Revolution 1 and 2? What is the future now of the Philippines? Do you think our nation is like Singapore today?