STRIP Benigno S. Aquino 3rd of his daang-matuwid rhetoric, and he emerges as the worst president, along with the dictator Marcos. Both captured or tried to capture our democratic institutions. Both had rhetorical skills and catchy slogans: “This nation will be great again” for Marcos; “Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” for Aquino.

Marcos abolished or lorded over our democratic institutions when he imposed his one-man rule in 1972, when the Philippines was touted as the exemplar of democracy in Southeast Asia.