Word: manila
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Life is a struggle for Milagros San Buenaventura. To feed her eleven children, she sells kalamansi, a bittersweet native lime, at market stalls in the city of Naga, 140 miles southeast of Manila. At night she prays hard, begging for protection against disasters that may strike at her, at her city, at her country. But the troubles keep coming closer. Two months ago rebels of the Communist New People's Army blew up four strategic bridges, severing rail lines between Naga and Manila. Soon after, the army escalated its war with the N.P.A., further disrupting the local economy. Then...
...political picture in the Philippines also remains grim. Byzantine intrigues continue to be launched against Aquino. To distract the nervous capital, her enemies on both the right and the left freely sow sensationalist rumors among Manila's 28 newspapers. The city's coffee shops and political salons cultivate witticisms to poison the President's reputation. One favorite is a Spanish pun on the name Corazon C. Aquino. With a finger at the chest, the speaker says, "Corazon, si" (she has a heart); with a finger at the head, he continues, "Aqui, no" (here, nothing...
Last month Aquino's disaffected Vice President, Salvador Laurel, secretly | sent feelers to Honasan, who remains at large in or around Manila and constantly threatens to strike again with rebel soldiers. Laurel, who has publicly attacked Aquino and her policies, wanted assurances that the colonel would not stage a coup while the Vice President was in the U.S. on a speaking tour. Laurel was afraid that if Aquino were ousted from the presidency while he was abroad, he would be maneuvered out of the succession. Aquino, meanwhile, was not above tweaking her Vice President. Members of Philippine consulates...
...swirl, the Communists have begun to show their hand in the capital, infiltrating its unruly confines with small assassination squads known as Sparrow units, so called for their small size and great mobility. This year more than 150 policemen and soldiers have been killed. To counter the hit squads, Manila police -- with Aquino's reluctant approval -- have organized gangs of vigilantes to drive out the Communists. Last week more than 4,000 Manila residents signed up for duty. Those who are accepted will be issued weapons and given training. The Communists are fighting back. Police last week found the body...
...provinces are as neglected as Sulu, close to the southern tip of the Philippines, about 500 miles from Manila. Sulu's capital, Jolo, has deteriorated markedly even though it gave Aquino 95% of its votes during her run for the presidency. Violent local feuds often flare, and for three months the city has had no electricity. Muslim secessionists threaten to break out in open warfare. Says Mayor Aminkadra Abubakar: "Every day I send ((Aquino)) a letter and a telegram, reminding her of what ought to be done here. I never get a direct reply...