- Davao City mayor says Marcos in hindsight was the best president ever
- The only drawback to his legacy was his dictatorship and refusal to step down from power
- He says he wouldn’t mind borrowing the late strongman’s successful socio-economic programs
MANILA, Philippines – For Rodrigo Duterte, Ferdinand Marcos was not only the brightest president ever, he was the best this country had.
Speaking at his proclamation rally in Tondo on Tuesday, February 9, the tough-talking mayor who’s often been compared to the late strongman , professed his admiration for the latter and said he was the country’s best president until he became a dictator.
“If I turn back time now, before and now, if he did not stay long as president, if he did not become a dictator, the best president was Marcos,” Rappler quoted him as saying.
Elaborating further, Duterte pointed out Marcos’ successful socio-economic programs for farmers and fisher-folks including the Biyayang Dagat and Masagana 99.
“The Biyayang Dagat and Masagana 99, that was the time when we didn’t import food,” he said.
The Biyayang Dagat allowed fishermen to take out non-usurious loans to improve their fishing capacity and expand the fisheries sector. Masagana 99 meanwhile increased the country’s rice-producing yield and allowed it to become a rice exporter for the first time.
According to Duterte, he is—unlike his fellow politicians—willing to borrow source material from others if they are successful.
“The others here say, ‘Let’s not follow that because people will say we just copied.’ I look into it, I borrow material,” he said, adding he would most definitely study and bring back Marcos’ two programs so as to enable the country to become self-sufficient in food once again.
“We should revive and follow them,” he said.
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