Regarding former Philippine President Fidel Ramos' Aug. 14 article, "Cory Aquino's legacy of enriched freedom": Cory Aquino was undoubtedly a kind, honest and unpretentious president, but she was ineffectual. To attribute "enriched freedom" to her is simply an intellectual exaggeration bordering on flatulence. However one belabors the point, freedom and democracy have not exactly served the Philippines well.
One simply has to look at how the country is lagging behind its other Asian neighbors. To this day, most Filipinos still take pride in being the first democratic and sole Catholic country in Asia — something that identifies the country with the United States and the West. Elsewhere in Asia, nobody cares about these things.
It is high time that naive romantics learn that freedom alone cannot put food on the table, roofs over their heads and warm clothing on their backs. And despite the liberation from tyranny and restoration of freedom back home, we see a growing diaspora of Filipinos seeking greener pastures abroad.
On another note, if he hadn't written the referenced article, I would have said that Fidel Ramos was the kind of president the country needed to move forward.
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