Just when you might have thought the Philippines was on the mend, morbid symptoms of untreated problems re-emerge. It really shouldn’t be this way.
It may seem hard to believe in retrospect, but in the aftermath of the World War II, many commentators—especially in the United States—thought the Philippines would be Asia’s star economic and political performer. How wrong can you be?
The pundits can be forgiven for their optimism. The Philippines had the distinction of being the U.S.’s only formal imperial possession, and—unlike some of its competitors in the region—it was eventually bequeathed a democratic system of sorts. When combined with a population with high levels of English competence compared to its neighbors, the omens looked positive.
