Philippines

It is really sad that the current administration in the Philippines inherited a deluge of problems from the past government of Ferdinand Marcos. Along with the enormous foreign debt, malnutrition among the children (three out of five children do not get three meals a day) and the communist insurgency, the Filipinos have to deal with the politics of the ones who possess the three Gs--guns, goons and gold.

Democracy is a term which has much trouble working itself into the Filipino vocabulary. Most politicians in this island-nation seem to be more interested in how much power they can accumulate rather than serving the purpose for which they were elected. Old style politics prevails. If this style of governing continues under the administration of President Corazon Aquino and future administrations to come, the “domino theory” in Southeast Asia stands a greater chance of becoming a fact, and the Americans won’t be the only ones to leave the islands.

J. BAUTISTA VIRATA

Westminster