Let ML continue

FILIPINOS respect authority and are law abiding whenever there is authority. For this reason alone, martial law in Mindanao should continue until such time as law and order are firmly established; the Bangsamoro autonomy issue is resolved and NPA insurgency is suppressed.

To allay the fears and trauma of the Marcos martial law, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte had vowed that the DU30 martial law will be free of military abuses and government excesses which to date Pres. Duterte has made good his word.

Thus, owing to a lack of a better governance system, martial law will have to suffice in Mindanao where rebellion and lawlessness are widespread.

However, unlike the United States and Western Europe where these countries had several centuries to develop their economies, Asian development is relatively of recent vintage and characteristics.

It is no surprise that the phenomenal growth and industrialization of East Asian nations had a common denomination.

Their rapid growth had been achieved under either dictatorial regimes or parliamentary autocracy.

At one time or another, certain countries, such as Japan under the LDP, Malaysia under Dr. Mohammad Mahathir, Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew, and Indonesia under President Suharto made use of their overwhelming parliamentary dominance to fast track or railroad fundamental reforms and policies that saw their respective economies expand rapidly with minimal intervention and opposition.

Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Prime Minister Mohammad Mahathir and President Suharto were deemed to be strong leaders, with authoritarian tendencies, short of the dictatorships of Gen. Park Chung-Hee of South Korea and Chiang Ching-Kuo of Taiwan.

However, in many countries, there is a clear philosophical or ideological distinction and demarcation between political parties, such as, Republicans and Democrats, or Conservatives and Labor, or Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, or rightist parties and left-leaning parties which prevent and preclude “balimbings” from switching political parties after every national election as customary in the Philippines.

In other words, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, with his super-majority in Congress, credibility, high trust ratings, popularity, socialist beliefs and authoritarian tendencies, has the unique opportunity to radically transform society and leapfrog economic development.

The lack of a clear ideological divide between political parties is one of the many deterrents to sustainable development.

The masses do not care whichever political system is adopted provided government can deliver the bread.

You be the judge.

“Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.” — Samuel Johnson