Including
the incumbent, the Philippines has 16 great Presidents that served the country
to the best of their competencies. Sixteen leaders in sixteen different
needs, situations and times, it is really so difficult to name the best simply
because we did not live entirely in the era of these 16 great leaders.
And it seems incomparable to weigh each from each because different situation
means different approach and capacity, that the very qualified and intelligent
leader of a certain era may not be the same very qualified and intelligent if put
in different year, this makes each people unique. Although it may
incomparable but at least we can check their strength and weaknesses
individually and figure out how their administration was.
Every
President has accomplishments, strength and weaknesses. No matter how
good and best, every presidency has failures and its own share of
controversies. As a concerned private citizen, I am watching the happenings
though not fully dedicated but I am do aware of the country’s issues. All
through these years in my generation, I am waiting the true savior who will save
us from this political and economic suffering.
It is in this mentality that I have found to check the contributions and
issues of these leaders that changed the life of the Filipino people to see who
the “best” among of them is. To the best
of my ability, I tried to appraise each leader in their accomplishments,
controversies, strong and weak points without prejudice and admiration. I
rated each President using a percentile system.
In rating them, I tried an honest evaluation and used an independent
mind to come up with a satisfied result. I am a person of not
politicized; From President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s predecessor back to President
Ferdinand E. Marcos’ late era, I basically based my assessment on what I have
personally witnessed plus few articles. For
those I did not see from Pres. Marcos early years all the way back to President
Emilio Aguinaldo’s time, I used old articles, reviews and books.
I
made two appraisals. I don’t want to be too complacent in the first
result. On the second, I used conservative and strict approach to balance
the result of the first appraisal. Comparing the two results, there is
slight difference of their order of ranking and on average they are not far. But there is one unanimous, the top on my
list topped both appraisals. All the
while you thought I am pro-Aquino based on my views that most often favor them,
you will surprise none of the two former Aquino presidents made it on my best
three. As a matter of fact, I rated Ferdinand Marcos, a famous Aquino’s
nemesis, 99% the highest I gave in one of the criteria. It proves my being
a non-political citizen. While in a
survey said Pres. Marcos is the best president in the whole world, it did not
show on my appraisal, it shows instead that survey is a survey and it is not
really reliable as facts in legit books.
And without intention, I am happy to see a president who existed on my
time to make it on my top 3. True to
what they said, President Fidel V. Ramos is the best president after Marco’s
era. President Ramon F. Magsaysay topped
my ranking in both appraisals. In most of my readings, I almost did not
find negative remarks about Pres. Magsaysay and if so, even his weak points are
still almost not that dismaying. Pres.
Magsaysay had made remarkable contributions, benefits and milestone in
Philippines welfare and in the life of the Filipino people. Among those
are his most corruption-free and cleanest administration, country’s robust economy
and high confidence in peace and order.
And it is during Pres. Magsaysay’s time when it was cited as the
Philippines’ golden years, making him the most trusted and love president of
all time. Without reservation, I totally
chose Ramon F. Magsaysay the Best President that the Philippines ever had. I continue
to read articles about our country’s presidents and in the future I may get
stories that I haven’t read that will change the order of my list of
Philippines’ Commander in Chief. For now, it is
safe to say the list below is my latest ranking of Philippines’ best
presidents:
1.
Ramon del Fierro Magsaysay Sr.
2.
Carlos Polistico Garcia
3.
Fidel Valdez Ramos
4.
Jose Paciano Laurel
5. Ma.
Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino
6.
Manuel Luis Molina Quezon
7. Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III
8. Manuel Acuna Roxas
9.
Elpidio Rivera Quirino
10.
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos
11.
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal
12.
Emilio Famy Aguinaldo Sr.
13.
Sergio Suico Osmena Sr.
14.
Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo
15. Joseph Ejercito Estada
16. Rodrigo Roa Duterte
(list updated as of October 2024)
RAMON F. MAGSAYSAY
CARLOS P. GARCIA
FIDEL V. RAMOS