When Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (the daughter of President Diosdado Macapagal Arroyo) rose to the Presidency in 2001, some people recalled the good things that he father had done and the phrase "Poor Boy from Lubao" was put back into circulation for a while.
Now with Noynoy Aquino, the spinners are somewhat painting the return of all that was good and great about the years under Cory Aquino.
And although 2016 is still more than 5 years away, some people are already talking about the return of some old names in Philippine politics.
Certainly, among those names might be Roxas, Estrada, and perhaps, even Marcos.
It seems to be a fair enough assumption given the shape of how things are right now and assuming that Philippine politics will not change substantially in five years.
The voters (about 60 million of them by 2016) will not have substantially changed in terms of the way they make decisions on voting day. The candidates, with the system being conditioned against those currently outside of the system's mainstream, will use the same tactics aided and abetted by their adherents among the economic elite who control media, transportation, and other logistics crucial during elections.
If this happens, I guess we can be pretty sure (if we aren't sure yet) that this country is really and will be ruled by just a few families -- the so-called Elite.
Friends at the Get Real Philippines/Anti-Pinoy Network have been espousing several ways to deal with the seeming eventuality of another member of the "Elite" taking the reins of power.
One way is to change the government system, shifting from the Presidential to Parliamentary form of government.
Another way is to, as I understand it, select and support members of the elite who are actually 'enlightened'.
These two posts are really worth poring over, if you do have the time (you have more than five years).
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