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Clouds Over the Philippines
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10727 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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1 / 1986 |
3,088 Words |
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Karl D. Jackson
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On October 13, Senator Paul Laxalt arrived in the Philippines as the much-heralded personal messenger of President Ronald Reagan.
He delivered a handwritten note indicating that the president himself was sorely concerned over the plight of the Philippines and fearful for the future unless major political and economic reforms were immediately forthcoming.
An outside observer might assume under this circumstance that President Marcos was on the ropes and perhaps unlikely to answer the bell for the next round. The pressure had been building since the August, 1983, slaying of former senator Benigno Aquino. United States official demands for reform--issues in fronts of congressional committees--read as though they had been written by President Marcos' domestic critics:
democratic institutions must be revitalized (that is, end your dictatorial ways);
restore the free market economy (that is, end the monopolistic practices that have allowed your crony supporters to amass both wealth and power);
reinvigorate military professionalism(that is, retire the over-age generals who provide you with unquestioning support) and
do justice in the Aquino assassination case (that is, do not reinstate General Ver as chief of the armed forces). The image projected by much of the international media is of a sixty-eight-year-old man, supposedly dying of a degenerative disease, reportedly maintained in power only by his links to the Reagan administration, and faced with a burgeoning communist insurrection in the midst of a rapidly declining economy.
In light of the bluntness of the message and the importance of the messenger, one might have expected President Marcos to be shattered, for his support to melt away, and for talk of coup d'etats to dominate Manila's rumor mill.
Seeking New Mandate
Instead, within three weeks, Marcos seized the political initiative and declared a snap election to attain a new mandate, thereby stealing the thunder from his critics in the United States, and sending his opposition scurrying in several directions to fight an election in which Marcos, the ever-canny politician, will have most of the advantages.
The performance was vintage Marcos, leaving even his opponents slightly awestruck. Even though his moves are primarily cosmetic and will not solve any of the underlying problems of the Philippines, Marcos has succeeded in altering the entire course of the debate--deflecting concern away from the New People's Army, away from IMF and World Bank complaints about Marcos' failure to implement previous agreements, and away from the issued verdict in the Aquino case. Instead, the focus of Philippine politics has been shifted to the rough and tumble world of elections in which appearances are more important than reality and where Marcos, the power broker, excels.
United States presidents usually dispatch personal emissaries only when situations reach
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