Word: aquinos
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...President formally consolidated her leadership last week by swearing to uphold and defend the new constitution, which was ratified by 78% of the population on Feb. 2. Said Aquino: "The night is over." Not everyone was so sure. In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman put U.S. worries this way: "We think Aquino has a counterinsurgency plan. The question is, Can it work? Maybe it can, maybe it can't. The forces still need training...
...Aquino quickly sought to assure members of the armed forces that she intends to move decisively against the Communists. First she met with 20 middle-level officers to hear their grievances. She promised, among other things, to create a committee to investigate human rights violations by rebels. Reason: the military has complained that the Communists have not been held accountable for violations they have committed. Aquino made her position clear at midweek during her address before 400 soldiers at Camp Aguinaldo. "Send this message out to all our troops so that none may be misled to relax their vigilance...
...will use it." He described the President as a "lot smarter than we gave her credit for. She gave the Communists enough rope, and they hanged themselves. They planned to seize power without a major battle. Now they will have to fight." Others were less impressed with Aquino's handling of the rebels. "She gave them a status they never earned," snapped a disgruntled officer. "It was like surrender. Marcos showed us the arrogance of corruption, and she the arrogance of righteousness...
...balance, Aquino has managed to improve her stature with her troops. But as long as there are dissidents within the officer corps, she cannot totally trust the armed forces. Moreover, she will badly need the military's help if, as expected, major fighting erupts soon. "The insurgents are now appearing in larger contingents than ever," said former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile last week. Some military officers are convinced that the rebels will take the fight from the countryside to the cities, where they can exploit telecommunications, transportation systems and power networks...
Although the Aquino government has ambitious plans for the badly needed economic recovery of the country, it appears that those goals will have to be put on hold for the time being. Says Randy David, a political scientist at the University of the Philippines: "It is clear that her top priority is the insurgency...