In both instances, the country today remains the economic laggard of the five original countries that founded the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on August 8, 1967: Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.


For almost the same period, these four countries went through the same experiences under civilian rule and martial rule in different intervals of time and circumstances, with Thailand still under martial law today.


By comparison, it's only the Philippines, despite its vast human, natural resources and incomparable strategic location being at the center of the globe six to 18 degrees above the equator between the two great oceans (Pacific and South China Sea), which remains economically retrogressing. The rest have already progressed socially, politically and economically by leaps and bounds.


Let me qualify the Philippines's sad experiences in 50 years: 20 years of these were under President Ferdinand E. Marcos, including the nine years he ran the country under martial law (1972-1981) and 30 years later (1986-2016) under five presidents, former President Corazon C. Aquino, who also ran the country under martial rule or as a dictator for 16 months, her son former President Benigno S. Aquino III and the three presidents between them: Fidel V. Ramos, Joseph E. Estrada, who did not finish his term; and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who ran the country the longest in nine years.


National budget, being the most important factor to spur economic growth and ameliorate the people socially and politically, is at the center of governance of these six presidents, from Marcos to the post-Marcos years of 30 years and five presidents.


By comparison, Marcos in 20 years spent P486.42 billion, including his last defense budget of only P8 billion in 1985 and 1986, and yet he had more to show in terms of concrete economic, social and political achievements, including a network of roads and bridges, from Aparri in Cagayan to Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao; hospitals, schools and universities around the country; an energy industry that reduced the country's dependence on Middle East oil by almost 50 percent; and a strategic tact in human settlements that prevented squatters from moving to urban centers from the provinces; orderly traffic in major thoroughfares; a clean environment in the metropolis; and the restoration of law and order where none of today's virulent drug problems existed before; and an independent foreign relations with other countries, both hostile and friendly, particularly during the Cold War.


Sadly, in the 30 years after the Marcos era, the five presidents have largely created and managed crisis instead of shaping the future. Unknown to the people of this country, they spent an accumulated national budget of more than P35 trillion, beginning with Mrs. Aquino's P1.6 trillion in six years and four months, more than three times the accumulated budget of Marcos in 20 years, and this is already adjusted to inflation.


Worse, the foreign and domestic debts of the country today are already more than P6 trillion and they're growing instead of decreasing. The Marcos debts when he left office was only $36.8 billion, or at P50 in today's US dollar, this is only P1.840 trillion.


If you are not seeing a pattern here, better check your senses.


The post-Marcos presidents' extensive closeness with the elites is the key to understanding who they were for.


According to a July 2015 Ibon report, “Wealth of richest tripled,” the wealth of the 10 richest Filipinos has more than tripled at 250 percent, from P650 billion in 2010 to P2.2 trillion in 2015. Twelve Filipino billionaires have joined the world's billionaires listed in Forbes Magazine—among them Henry Sy, who rose from 97th a year ago, to 73rd wealthiest in the world in 2015.


The net income of some 260 firms listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange rose 33 percent, from P438 billion in 2010, to P583 billion in 2014. The gross revenues of these firms doubled at 106 percent in the same period. These firms are in the property, financials and holdings sectors, which include property and construction.


Yet, despite this significant increase in profits of the capitalists, Ibon reports that the wages and incomes of millions of workers nationwide have remained low. The real value of the average daily basic wage increased by less than P9 between 2010 and 2014. In nominal terms, the average daily basic pay is only P367.35 for all industries, with workers in private households and agriculture receiving the lowest pay. Meanwhile, the increase in average daily basic pay for all industries was only 8.8 percent, which is not even one-third of the increase in the net incomes of the largest corporations.


What is more devastating is that in the middle of Benigno III's term, the combined net worth of the 25 richest Filipinos was equivalent to the combined income of more than 70 million poorest Filipinos.


Huge sectors of Filipino industries are almost entirely monopolized by a few elite families. One of these families' juicy cash cows is the public-private partnerships (PPPs), where the government spends billions to guarantee their profits. Proof of this is the P57.2 billion allocation for PPP projects from the 2015 national budget. Public funds are being used to burden people with privatized transportation and other public services with faulty regulatory structures.


As a result, the country's few rich became richer, while the greater population, who are poor, became poorer. This is again due to the fact that the government's pro-elite policies are bent on serving the profit-seeking interests of big businesses, even at the expense of millions of Filipinos suffering in chronic poverty.


If President Duterte has the interest of the country and people at heart, does it really matter if he runs the State under civilian rule or martial rule?



Sources: 

<ol class="article-sources">
<li>
Civilian rule and martial rule by Cecilio Arillo, January 18, 2017, <a href="https://goo.gl/yY5OIV" target="_blank" class="news_link" title="Source">Business Mirror</a>
</li>
</ol>


(This article is adapted from the source listed above. We are unable to grant permission for any kind of reproduction other than social media shares.)

If PDU30 has the interest of the people at heart, does it matter if we are under civilian or martial rule?