In politics, one must know how to play the game so well and knows well the art of diplomacy. To emerge as a prominent leader, family name is important. But to stay in power, staying brainy every second and being witty does the difference.
In my attempt to compare the fate of former President Estrada and former President Gloria Arroyo, they both haunted by allegations left and right. Corruption, anomalies, you name it -- they are guilty of it. I think the difference is, Gloria Arroyo is so much witty to be ousted in power -- much to the disappointment of her enemies. Unlike Estrada whom for all we know may have tendencies to laps on his judgement, maybe he got good intentions but lack the brain to overpower the minds of his enemies. That caused him his biggest downfall. To stay as a President, being a good boy isn't enough. A lot compare Gloria Arroyo to former President Marcos. Ferdinand Marcos tremendously stayed in power for more than 20 years. And even the international community had been mislead and eventually gave their support to Marcos Administration for such some times. Very true, they both got brilliant minds. One of the things I like about Arroyo is that she held so much power in her hands that she got to control such a humongous part in the Philippines' political arena during her time as president. I agree that a great leader must have the strength and power to control her subjects. I always believe in democracy with a little pinch of autocratic rule. Let's take into account those impeachment complaints and trials she got -- more than four? I'm not actually sure how many, but i can't help but be amazed on her power that each allegations during her administration was dropped one by one, one after the other. Just like that. Even until now, let's see how far those allegations against her can go. Brilliant, isn't? It is -- I agree.
I agree that politicians -- mostly in the executive branch of the government are corrupt, and whose not anyway? For me it's okay as I know that it will never be eradicated no matter how much we dream of it. What matters now for me is how effective these corrupt politicians can be. Let's accept it, Gloria Arroyo has accomplished more works as compared to her three predecessors combined. World leaders even recognized her contribution to the Philippine Economy that she got our country's economic power back in the world market. Most importantly, how could I forget -- Arroyo has made tough decisions to uplift our economy that gained her negative ratings.
The administration under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pushed toward faster economic growth. Arroyo's stance towards economic improvement since 2004 has seen the Philippines re-emerge as one of the growing economies in Southeast Asia. In 2004, the Philippine economy grew by 6.1%, beating most analysts and even the government's estimates. In 2005, the Philippine peso posted an appreciation rate of 6%—the fastest in the Asian region for that year. Based on official (National Economic and Development Authority) figures, economic growth in terms of gross domestic product has averaged 5.0% during the Arroyo presidency from 2001 up to the first quarter of 2008. This is higher than in the administration of the previous recent presidents: 3.8% average of Aquino, 3.7% average of Ramos, and 3.7% average of the Joseph Estrada administration. The Philippine economy grew at its fastest pace in three decades in 2007, with real GDP growth exceeding 7%. Arroyo's handling of the economy has earned praise from former "friend" and classmate in Georgetown, ex-US President Bill Clinton, who cited her "tough decisions" that put the Philippine economy back in shape.
(Newly Industrialized Countries as of 2010)
In general, it's been great. Arroyo was able to turn the country around and made it out of the "developing nation" class -- much like the "third world" in some terminologies. The Philippines is now a Newly Industrialized Country -- these are countries whose economies have not yet reached First World status but have, in a macroeconomic sense, outpaced their developing counterparts. The Philippines is along side of these other newly industrialized countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, India, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and Turkey.
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