By JIM GOMEZ and TERESA CEROJANO, Associated Press MANILA, Philippines — Thirty years after emerging from a brutal dictatorship, Filipinos will face a dilemma when they pick a new leader on Monday: Should they choose a sharp-tongued mayor with an audacious promise to wipe out crime and corruption within months, or back reformists who aren’t regarded as a threat to democracy? Photo courtesy of alamy.com It’s a make-or-break decision with plenty at stake for the Southeast Asian nation, which has turned around under President Benigno Aquino III with one of the highest growth rates in Asia but remains fragile with its massive poverty, inequality, and insurgencies. One of America’s closest allies in Asia, the Philippines is in the dead center of long-seething territorial conflicts with China and four other governments that threaten to boil over as the new president takes office on June 30. “We were called the sick man of Asia [...]
