Word: aquinos
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Aquino's first challenge was to establish a cohesive administration, a task made difficult by Marcos' debilitating legacy of one-man rule. Mindful of the dangers of a political vacuum, she moved swiftly to show that she was in charge. During her first full day as President, she appointed 17 Cabinet ministers and held her first news conference. In an effort to defuse the impulse to seek revenge on Marcos followers, she spoke forcefully of the need for reconciliation. The President, who has frequently called Marcos the "No. 1 suspect" in the 1983 assassination of her husband, Senator Benigno ("Ninoy...
...Aquino acted quickly to fulfill one of her campaign promises. A day after her inauguration, she authorized the release of 33 of the 475 Filipinos imprisoned under Marcos' Preventive Detention Act and other statutes, laws that permitted incarceration without trial for a variety of alleged offenses, from antigovernment protest to suspected subversion...
Initially, Aquino announced that political detainees would be freed on a case-by-case basis. Those charged with spurious political offenses would be released, but Communist insurgents and those accused of violent crimes would be held for trial. That bothered many of her followers, who felt that she should show at least as much compassion for Marcos' victims as she had for Marcos. The next day Aquino ordered the release of all remaining political prisoners, subject to "certain administrative requirements." However, it was announced that four specific cases, including that of Jose Maria Sison, the 47-year-old head...
...released. "My head was banged against a concrete wall. They put a gun to my temple and played Russian roulette. They put it in my mouth and twisted it. Once I was blindfolded for 17 hours, and they would whisper, 'You will be killed tonight.' " The new Aquino administration is considering the establishment of a presidential commission to investigate political assassinations and unexplained disappearances during the Marcos...
...selecting her Cabinet, Aquino demonstrated an understanding of politics that impressed even her harshest Washington critics. Except for two Marcos holdovers--Defense Minister Enrile and Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez --the 16 men and one woman given ministerial portfolios represent the spectrum of centrist opposition that supported Aquino's candidacy. The Cabinet has a firmly middle-class, moderate cast that is so reflective of Aquino's own background and political views that a reporter at her first press conference pointedly asked whether the choices were too "elite." The Cabinet selections did not please the far left, which decried them...