For a while, yes. But...
The Spanish left behind a lot of bad influences (as with many other Hispanic countries) that resurfaced after the US granted Independence. Philippines after independence was often lauded as the “Tiger of the Pacific” and expected to dominate, instead it economically and politically rotted. Compare to the success of Singapore (wow!), and, for that matter, but not quite so spectacularly, Malaysia, which is actually not doing too badly.
Don’t get me wrong - my wife is a Filipina and in general I love the people!
It’s interesting. One thing that the Philippines seems to have in spades is a willingness to overlook corruption. How man yof their disgraced leaders and insurgents have returned to power after short stints in prison? I mean, look who’s the president today! I’m not sure you can say that’s a relic of Spanish rule. India is much the same way in terms of corruption embedded into the political culture.