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Text | Su Moyan
Editor|Su Moyan
preface
"If I am elected, I will be a healing president and the Philippines will be the next Singapore."
These are the words that Isco Moreno said while running for the presidency of the Philippines in 2022.
Let the Philippines be the next Singapore
The Philippine electoral model was designed by the United States itself, similar to the American electoral model, with huge campaign funds shutting out ordinary people, and the election itself is all about nepotism.
The so-called democracy in the Philippines is nothing more than the operation of the system under the control of the major families, and the election of the president has become a game between the major families.
During the election, the mayor from the slums made a series of promises to change the situation.
He proposed that if elected, he would reduce the excise tax on petroleum products by 50%, while reducing the cost of food production and reducing the burden on farmers and fishermen and increasing their income.
In order to ensure the interests of the peasant class, he also proposed to improve the import policy of agricultural products and limit the import of agricultural products to ensure the sales of domestic agricultural products.
Moreno believes that the Philippines is not far from Singapore, and the Philippines can refer to Singapore's development model and become the next Singapore, but as far as the current situation of the Philippines, it is estimated to be a bit difficult.
In 2020, Singapore's per capita GDP reached US$59,800, while the Philippines' per capita GDP was only US$3,300, less than one-fifth of Singapore's, and 70% of the Philippines' GDP was contributed by Chinese.
More than a million people in the Philippines are unemployed, and most of them are short-term contract workers in the Philippines, who work only six months a year, and jobs are not guaranteed, let alone social benefits.
In terms of workers, Singapore's law stipulates that the annual leave and other holidays enjoyed by workers must be paid, and the superior working environment also attracts people to develop in Singapore.
On the issue of housing, when Singapore was founded, the government introduced relevant policies to strive for citizens to "own their homes", and the two policies of "HDB system" and "restriction of house speculation" also greatly stabilized its domestic housing prices.
Not to mention the housing problem in the Philippines, even the capital Manila, where thirty percent of the population is struggling to feed themselves, Manila still has a large slum, and worse, there are still some citizens in Manila who cannot even afford to live in slums.
This shows how backward the Philippines' social welfare and security are.
In an interview, Moreno bluntly said: "It's easy for us to be Singapore. Singapore is a very small country and well managed. There is no harm in trying to realize what Singaporeans have achieved. ”
He also looked ahead to his work after his election, saying:
"I think the first two years of my six-year term are very important to me, and if I am elected president, I will deal with poverty, hunger and inequality in the Philippines with the same courage as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky."
As Manila's mayor, why is Moreno so concerned about these issues? Probably because he grew up in a slum.
Mayor from the slums
The Philippines is known as the "window of democracy" in Asia, and advocating democracy is a good thing, but regardless of the current social situation, it has copied the democratic system of the United States, which has brought great influence to the Philippines.
In the Philippines, democratic power has been erected, and large families control the country's discourse, resulting in further backwardness in the Philippines and even being surpassed by Vietnam.
Isco Moreno, the mayor of Manila, the capital of the Philippines, campaigned to change that, saying that he would build the Philippines into the next Singapore.
As a budding politician in the Philippines, Moreno can be described as very powerful, whether it is appearance, popularity or ability, but more importantly, he is not from a large family.
In the 50s, Moreno's father, Joaquin, came to Manila from Visayas to work as a stevedore in San Jose, during which he met his wife, who also came to Manila to live.
The two, like most poor families, could not afford to pay for the marriage at church, so the two were never married in name, only in fact.
After marriage, Moreno's mother became a housewife, occasionally doing laundry and doing odd jobs in the back kitchen of the restaurant, and his father's meager income as a stevedore covered the expenses of the whole family, so starvation was a compulsory course in Moreno's childhood.
The slums have a second-hand food called "pugpag", which is picked up from leftovers and garbage heaps and washed and cooked meat, and although the source of these foods is not known, there is no better option for slum people.
Moreno is no exception, and "Pagpag" was his main source of meat during his childhood.
Unlike the slum children, Moreno's father attached great importance to his child's education and insisted that he finish high school.
In 1992, Moreno was admitted to the Philippine Marine Academy and was discovered by scouts the following year, in order to reduce the burden on his parents, Moreno decided to enter the entertainment industry.
The 19-year-old Moreno has worked in a supporting role in a teen theater troupe, worked as a variety show host, and has played leading or supporting roles in many movies.
In 1998, Moreno decided to move from show business to politics, serving as an advisor to the city of Manila, and later after serving three terms as a Manila City Councillor, was recommended by Danilo Lacuna to be Manila's deputy mayor in 2017.
The youngest presidential candidate
With the support and leadership of Moreno's political mentor Danilo Lakuna, who is also his guide on his career, Moreno broke through the sandwich between the former mayor of Manila and the former president of the Philippines and sat on the mayor's throne of Manila in 2019.
Moreno is good at using the Internet to increase his popularity, and at the same time using his own practical actions to increase his popularity, and since taking office, he has been committed to fulfilling the promises he made during the original campaign.
In a webcast, he showcased Manila's image of the city, the results of its street clean-up efforts, and its urban development.
When the pandemic hit, he ordered the construction of quarantine sites and hospitals, as well as temporary housing to provide accommodation for health workers who went to Manila to fight the pandemic.
He also allocated a large budget to the homeless and impoverished families in Manila, providing relief food, supplies and cash grants.
During Moreno's administration, a series of measures and measures were affirmed and praised by the citizens, and in September 2021, Moreno topped the list of the best mayors in the Philippines with 88% support.
In the Philippine presidential candidate's poll, Moreno's approval rating is second only to Davao Mayor Sarah Duterte.
At this time, Moreno was not yet 50 years old, making him the youngest presidential candidate.
Philippine politicians analyzed that Moreno entered the entertainment industry from the slums and then turned into politics to become a presidential candidate, and this "counterattack" story will give him an advantage to a certain extent.
Moreno's cantony run for president is also inseparable from the family support behind him, but what big family is behind his slum child, in fact, this family is the family of his political mentor Nilo Lakuna.
Nilo Lacuna is a member of the Rakuna family in Manila, and his daughter, Henmi Lacuna, is the deputy mayor of Manila, and she has registered to run for mayor.
Therefore, if Moreno is elected president, the city of Manila is still in the hands of his own people, which will be very helpful for his work.
Moreno's wife, Diana, is the child of a wealthy local Chinese businessman in Manila, and his campaign was largely funded by his husband's family.
A good partner doesn't mean you're competitive
Moreno's partner is the famous Chinese cardiologist Xu Weili, who chose this partner and many people speculate that he wants to develop the votes of Chinese Filipinos through his partner.
Like Moreno, Xu Weili is also very good at using the Internet to increase his popularity, his social platform account has more than 16 million followers, and his YouTube consultation platform also has more than 6.6 million followers.
Manila also publicly stated that if he is elected president, whether or not Xu Weili is elected vice president, he will appoint Xu Weili as health minister, and in response, Xu Weili also promised to help Moreno improve the public health system in the Philippines.
Although the combination of the two is very harmonious, there is a huge hidden danger, because a few surging eyes alone can no longer make the people vote obediently.
In the eyes of the people, they prefer to vote in a combination of the same governing philosophy, Moreno is neither close to the government nor opposed to the government, this "alternative" candidate is usually seen as weak.
Sure enough, two weeks before the election, polling data showed that Ferdinand Marcos' support rate was as high as 56%, Lin Lini ranked second with 24% support, and Moreno ranked third but below 8%.
In the face of this absolute disadvantage, Moreno is determined not to give up the selection and continues to encourage voters to vote for his combination.
On May 9, 2022, the results of the 17th presidential election in the Philippines were announced, and Ferdinand Romuldez Marcos, also known as Marcos Jr., was successfully elected, and the Marcos family once again became the first family in Philippine politics.
Write at the end
Isco Moreno's attempt to make the Philippines a second Singapore was admired and despised, but the reason for his failure was that he was too conservative because he lacked strength.
Many of Moreno's promises are just some of his beautiful ideas, not from reality, and his plans and attitudes, including epidemic prevention and control, President Marcos, and the South China Sea issue, all happened from a very safe and safe attitude.
It can only be said that Moreno's failure is partly due to its own reasons, and partly due to Philippine social problems, reform is a good thing, but there is a long way to go.
Every country should continue to explore and develop, loud mobilization is only one aspect, the most important thing is to proceed from reality and solve the most fundamental problems.
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