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Well, hello, my fellow eFilipinos,

It's nearly time for my final day as President, and as I take a look at our next Presidential Candidates, I've started to look in depth at my possible successors. In this article, I will outline the campaigns of each candidate, and compare them side by side in each major point.

Economy



Now, Fatality's campaign lies in attracting more players, and lessening government involvement. I fail to understand this. Firstly, I will point out that attracting more players, while increasing income, is not an economic issue, but a population one. As for government involvement, what he may or may not realize, is that our government is necessary in almost every aspect of the economy. That's how the economic module is built, and it must be this way for small countries such as our own. Furthermore, he does not mention taxes at all, which is an important point.

CruelBear's plan for the economy begins with tax reform. How this is to be done will be debated among congress and other officials, an idea which I think a sound plan. Giving everyone involved a look into what plans you will make and why, and coming to a consensus on what is best for the country is typically the best way to go in matters such as these. He also states that he hopes to get more high-skilled players to come to the country and work. This, too, is somewhat more of a population issue, however an infusion of high-skilled, and assumably active players, could give the country a more short term productivity boost, than getting more new players to join, a method that Presidents, including myself, have made attempts at for the longest time now.

In review, neither candidate has a perfectly sound plan for the economy. However, Fatality's platform does not seem to make any point relevant to the economy at all. The economic side of things, however, is not, as it stands, important in this particular term. This is because, at any given moment, and likely within the next President's term, V2 of the economic system will be released, and all changes that they may or may not propose will be invalid.

Military



Fatality's plan to increase Military strength involves sending troops to foreign conflicts to fight in wars, without choosing sides. This is contradictory. You cannot fight a war without, at least to some degree, choosing a side. And not to mention, our Wargames provide a daily fight at home, so deployment just for the sake of fighting is not at all necessary. For those who wish a more realistic war, fighting in a conflict that actually matters, our deploying divisions of military already move out on a reasonable basis. He also says increased organization is necessary, but he lacks any form of explanation on how he would organize it.

CruelBear's proposals are somewhat more defined. He first plans to remove some of the inactive commanders, as well as finding a replacement for himself, and putting in charge more active citizens, who will be there to issue orders in emergency situations. Secondly, he has stated that he will personally message the Commanding Officers daily, to ensure that they have checked for supply requests. This would, one would hope, decrease the amount of time that it takes for a requesting soldier to get his weapons to fight, which especially helpful in emergency situations.

To sum up this section, I find Fatality's plans either unnecessary or vague, while CruelBear can, at least potentially, offer some actual progress in this section. CruelBear wins this portion, in my opinion.

Foreign Affairs



Fatality seems to think that our success in Foreign Relations lies in a better relationship with Phoenix. Now, if all were right in the world, and we could have our way, I may agree with him. However, in the months I've spent as an MoFA, as well as the month I spent as President, I have learned that the big Phoenix countries, and especially Indonesia, can often be extremely difficult, or even impossible to work with. This can be exemplified for the war that was declared on us recently. He does bring up the Entente, however, which is a good idea to improve relations with. Although still in a difficult situation for the moment, Entente could show promise as a useful set of allies in the future.

CruelBear's stance on Foreign Affairs is more Pro-EDEN. This is not due to a preference for EDEN countries, only due to the current need for Protection from Phoenix Powers, most specifically Indonesia. This is not to say that we should ally with EDEN, or break our neutrality. However, keeping respectful relations with the EDEN powers, and more specifically those that have been so kind as to help us by signing MPPs to prevent Indonesian invasion. This does not, however, leave out Sol. Of course, as always, under a term with CruelBear, the Philippines would do anything in our ability to help our Sol allies, something which, although I'm sure Fatality may have meant, he did not mention in his Foreign Relations Platform.

This section is a bit more of a mixed decision than the Military section, where CruelBear clearly has a better idea of what is going on, in my opinion. Fatality would have a very good platform, were Phoenix not so difficult to improve relations with, and to my disappointment, the Entente slipped the mind of CruelBear. However, Because of the difficulties that would lie in improving relations with Phoenix, I find a greater portion of Fatality's platform undoable, or at the least, very difficult. Attempting to improve relations with Phoenix is a must, of course, but it is unlikely enough that it cannot be made the first priority. I feel CruelBear runs the safer, more well-informed platform here.

Population



Fatality's platform is honestly nothing we haven't seen before. It's the same “advertise the game” campaign that most Presidential hopefuls use. If he is elected, I hope he comes up with more specific ways, that allow this to come to fruition and bring a big population to the country. However, I fear that he'll be just as unsuccessful at a “babyboom” as all his predecessors, myself included.

Cruel plans to instead focus on bringing in immigration. This is a risky move, but if implemented well, it would at least see a steady 30-40 players who were already acquainted with the game moving into the country.

For this, I won't award a winner, because neither plan is near perfect, and neither really presents any kind of short-term solution to the population issue.

Anti-PTO



I was disappointed that Fatality did not even mention anything about stopping future PTOs, as they have been a part of ePhilippine history consistently since the day the country was born. CruelBear, on the other hand, has supported the continuance of the UNITY Program in potentially dangerous situations, as well as using the Military to organize votes.

Clearly, CruelBear wins this portion, as Fatality didn't think to mention it.

Experience



In this section, I feel that CruelBear wins by a landslide. Fatality has enjoyed two nonconsecutive Congressional terms, and served as an ambassador to Sol. CruelBear, on the other hand, has served a term as Party President, Six Consecutive terms in ePhilippine Congress (more than I have even been able to enjoy in congress) including two terms as Deputy Speaker of the House. He has also been the Commanding Officer for the SOCOM division, and previously the Army division.

In summation, I feel that the best Presidential Candidate for the upcoming elections tomorrow is CruelBear. He has more experience, and a more sound platform, in my personal opinion. But the more important thing is, that as I look at our candidates, I can see that, at least, both candidates do truly hope to help the Philippines, and will do so, to the best of their ability.

Lastly, I would like to wish both of my possible successors luck tomorrow. I will come out with one final Presidential article tomorrow. After that, I may remain in the Philippines for a future helping the country, or I may travel elsewhere for a month or two, possibly to one of our Sol allies. But whatever I do, I don't see myself running for President again some time soon. So to those running, please do your best, and try to keep an eye out for those who will be running in the next era of ePhilippine Politics.