It's kinda corny topic, and besides malapit na rin ang June 12, Who do you think is the best Philippine President who served our country? any comments?

They say Ramon Magsaysay was well-loved and had a genuine concern for the 'masa' (different with erap who used the 'masa'). Too bad he died in a plane crash.. (the work of the CIA?).

But in my lifetime, FVR would be the best. He was a workaholic, 'pump primed the economy', silenced all 'enemies' (NPA, MILF...), then brought in investors, created direction (Towards a Tiger Economy), jobs abound and people seems to have money to spend.... and to think i voted for miriam santiago then! :-)

Too bad, he cant run for reelection. Then came Erap

Of course, dollar was P26.00 then, that's why I ordered a lot from Natalie!

bigman

Macapagal, FVR and GMA is my vote. I can see the economy going up when FVR and GMA was in power. They say during Macapagal's (Diosdado) time, PAFs training was very usual. They fly and train in the air everyday, land in Malaysia and eat merienda then come back here. :-) :-)

Sad to say but every prez (except Aguinaldo) is often tagged as an Amboy (except maybe Tita Cory and Ate Glo, for obvious reasons) and lest we forget, they all have flaws in their character but despite that, they should not be denied respect due them.

My vote goes to Ramon Magsaysay. He epitomizes the kind of leadership the Philippines ought to have.

Next would be FVR (even though I did not vote for him).

Marcos would have made the "Greatest" list but his ambition and greed ruined his chance for greatness.

Aguinaldo NOT an Amboy? That hindot of a backstabber used red, white and blue in our flag as a sign of gratitude to the Yanks who later taught him the value of the phrase "there's no such thing as free lunch."

I would say RM. I wouldn't really mind any Phil. president being tagged an Amboy/girl. If we have known then where the country would end up now maybe we would have a very different opinion about this.

Interesting topic! Yes, it does appear to be a toss-up between FVR and Magsaysay.

Magsaysay was indeed one of the best presidents we had. But those days the country was still relatively well-off.

Id have to vote for FVR. In spite of all that has been, and still are, being said about him, he was somehow able to reverse the country's downward trend. Too bad it wasnt sustained.

But now all I can say is that I hope FVR will not be the best we ever will have. If so, the country is doomed.

how about him? i think he made loads of improvement in our country though he has many corrupt cronnies.

Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, hands down. Nobody, I mean NOBODY comes close to where he placed this country's economy. Because of him, tumino ang pinoy (iron hands). That's what MOST filipinos are and nobody can deny this. Give them freedom, they abuse it; point a gun in their face, they behave.

At least in his time, corruption is only with him, in him through him. When he's gone, its ANYBODY's turf.



-Lipton-

Nice inputs guys!

For me, Ramon Magsaysay. Too bad he died before he finished his term. I also read about his anecdotes. And to think he's the 1st president from the ranks of blue collared workers. Hes the original "Panday" and a mechanic.

Too bad FEM is the best sana. Lalo na yung 1st term nya. Well Power is too addictive...

just my 2 cents...

ERAP,ERAP,ERAP.... ...hehehehe,Just kidding.
I dunno I mean Magsaysay is my man, but it's really hard to say or given a situation were the next president will be handed down with the country's worsening situation..Magsaysay has given hope to the filipinos way back in the 50's--to bad it was short lived. But do you think our present or future leader can give us back this hope!!! Abangan

Can I say at least parts of a president? I'd preffer body parts.

FVR -

Good on the economy, no doubt. Bad on the military. They actually stagnated during his term. Worse, he sold out my Mindanao to ARMM just to appease OIC. (pressured by Shahani?)

Marcos -

At the beginning I hated the guy for allowing much of the northern Filipinos to immigrate to my island displacing much of our people. And of course the atrocities he allegedly commited. Looking back I think he was better in some cases than all our presidents combined post-Macoy. We need an iron hand. Our country has become too democratic, too liberal and very pro-west.

ERAP -

Believe me when I tell you that I marched against this guy. I was on vacation then. I heard Cardinal Sin say go to edsa wear black, I left in 5 minutes. Marched two days in a row. Why is he on my list? He was the only one with the guts to use the military for what it is.

Actually the war was his fault, he agreed to recognize the MILF camps in Mindanao, under the UN rules recognizing these camps granted the rebels beligerent status. Big mistake. so he pounded all the camps he recognized before MILF could reach the UN.

I think there were no great presidents but only good ones. A great president for me is someone who has done something monumental & beneficial to our country. No one has done that yet.
I don't think Marcos & Erap were good presidents in any way. The "good" stuff that Marcos did were from the Japanese war damage pay (or whatever you call that). About Erap using the military in a right way? so? did it do any good to our country? The military turned their back on him in the end so it was all laid to waste anyway.
For me if the good deeds done by a president were dominated by his/her/whatever bad deeds, screw the good deeds. He just laid it all to waste. That president is just plain bad.
Just for you to catch my wave, just imagine if you did more bad than good, would you be allowed into heaven? If I gave you candy but punch you in the face with the candy still in your mouth would you still thank me for the candy?

Just some thoughts

Yuo may have a point there, LatteX. Aguinaldo's mistake was he gave in right away the moment the Americans nabbed him. He would have been like Mabini, Servillano Aquino (Ninoy's grandpa) and Artermio Ricarte. Even though they were eventually captured, they refused to submit to American rule.

But then again, the Japanese also used Aguinaldo for propaganda purposes as they were promoting their "Asia for the Asians" pitch.

As an afterthought (in the recent elections) nd probably a lesson to learn for future elections:

Of course we Filipinos would like to have a good president, someone who can help bring the economy back on its feet, restore the pride and dignity of the Filipino people and promote peace and order, but at the same time be ready to defend it if necessary.

But then again, despite the trappings and perks, the presidency is a tough job. He/she has to make tough decisions which is very likely gonna antagonize someone. You can't please everyone you know. The president has to look after the welfare of the entire nation, not the interests of specific groups. Doing so will marginalize the others. The president is gonna need guts to do the right thing for the good of the country.