Lee Iacocca, a retired captain of American industry, said in his book, “Where are the voices of leaders who can inspire us to action and make us stand taller? What happened to the strong and resolute party of Lincoln? What happened to the courageous, populist party of FDR and Truman? There was a time in this country when the voices of great leaders lifted us up and made us want to do better. Where have all the leaders gone?”  Just imagine that Mr. Iacocca is a Filipino and substitute “Magsaysay” for “Lincoln” and “Jose P. Rizal” (JPR) for “FDR” and “Quezon” for “Truman.” Yes, where have all the Filipino leaders gone?

You can read excerpts from the book, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?” by clicking on this hyperlink:

Borders - Feature - Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Where Have All the Leaders Gone? By Lee Iacocca with Catherine Whitney ... They say, "Lee, you're eighty-two years old. Leave the rage to the young people...
www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=wherehavealltheleadersgone

Certainly, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) has been unable to “inspire us to action and make us stand taller.” For she belongs to the present crop of impotent, if not corrupt, national leaders, many of whom have been described by critics as moral dwarfs and/or intellectual midgets (pun not intended). PGMA is just a so-so leader, who pales in comparison to a Ramon Magsaysay or a Ferdinand Marcos or even a Ninoy Aquino. Readers may want to read again GMA Will Never Be Able to Prolong Her Rule Beyond June 30, 2010, or Declare Martial Law  and see why she looks a lot smaller than Presidents Magsaysay and Marcos or even Senator Aquino.

Look at the 14 or more presidential aspirants who want to replace Mrs. Arroyo in the May 2010 national elections. Do Filipinos see in them even a modest imitation of a Ramon Magsaysay? Compare the present “presidentiables” (sic) to President Magsaysay in these articles:

Remembering President Ramon Magsaysay y Del Fierro: A Modern-Day Moses (A Privilege Speech by Senator Nene Pimentel)

Reinventing the "Ramon Magsaysay Line" in Solving Philippine Political Problems

Some of the present presidential wannabes are members of the Philippine Senate. If these “presidentiables” cannot even do properly the work of a senator, how much more the functions and responsibilities of a President? How come these senators could not even support the pending bills of Senator Pimentel in decriminalizing libel or in setting up “Title Insurance” in the Philippines, to name just two of his initiatives? How come all of these senators, with the exception of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, continue to receive and dispense according to their whim and caprice, year in, year out, the hundreds of millions of pesos in pork barrel, which is illegal and at the same time immoral?

Editor’s Note: To read an essay on title insurance, please click on

The Need for "Title Insurance" Is Another Reason OFWs Must Organize a Political Party

 
Yes, the question is, “Where have all the Filipino leaders gone?” Your educated guess of an answer is perhaps as good as mine.

(To be continued . . .) # # #