If I would be given the power to bring back a famous personality again, no doubt I would choose President Ferdinand Marcos.
I may have not been born during his time, but reading through his autobiography, reading books from respected authors and stories being relayed by my parents, I can really say that he was by far the best president.
During his tenure as the President of the Philippines, he was able to raise Philippines to become one of the most progressive countries in the world. Philippines ranked 3rd in Asia in terms of economy. But after his fall from power, Philippines eventually became one of the poorest countries.
Another achievement he has made was putting importance to agriculture. We can't deny the fact that Philippines is conducive for farming. Being a tropical country, we can raise crops anytime of the year. During his presidency, we are exporting rice to other neighboring countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia. We are also the ones who taught them the proper way to plant rice. But after his downfall, our rice production declined, thus prompting us to import rice from the countries that learned planting rice from us.
Maybe the only thing that made him infamous are the killings, oppression and abuse brought about by the Police and Army when he declared the nationwide Martial Law. However, from the accounts of my grandparents, the image being spread by the media are not true. The time of Martial Law was spread by the media as the time full of violence when on the contrary, it is very peaceful. Cebu was peaceful. Crimes are rare. People obey rules. Those people who claimed they are Human Rights Victims are those same people who continue to contradict on the government's stand. If you just follow the law then nothing bad will happen to you.
If we can turn back time. I want to experience living in that era where discipline is instilled. Unlike now, when we are given too much democracy that we tend to challenge the law. I really believe that what Filipinos need is not too much democracy, but discipline. If discipline will be instilled again, then the Philippines will become a better place.
