Word: martialled
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From exile in Cambridge, Aquino has quietly urged Marcos to consider lifting martial law and open the door to conciliation before being swamped in a wave of revolution. Prior to last week's incident. Marcos--who had allowed Aquino out of the country for a triple bypass heart operation, primarily because he could not afford to let Aquino die in prison and become a martyr--responded cautiously, trying to keep his clasp on power while waiting out the results of the presidential election. The president put out feelers, realizing a compromise with Aquino provided at least a chance to salvage...
...Marcos vigorously retracted his hints that he would consider lifting martial law when the April 6 Movement--which the dictator contends is linked to Aquino--pulled its convention bombing, and conspicuously called into question Marcos' capacity to maintain peace and order. The guerillas stopped short of assassinating Marcos (it appears they easily could have), preferring instead to flaunt their havoc-wreaking. For his part, Aquino denied any connection with the April 6 Movement, a fact even acknowledged by the terrorists who declared him their leader "even though he hasn't yet recognized...
MEANWHILE, THE U.S. SEEMS intent on committing a foreign policy error in the Philippines similar to the fiasco in Iran. Right now, Congress has a five-year, $500 million aid agreement with this country in its ninth year of martial law. During the presidential campaign, the State Department has a vested interest in keeping the situation "stable" and, more important, quiet, President Carter (and accordingly, Secretary of State. Edmund Muskie) cannot afford to have another military dictatorship ally fall this week, lest he be open to charges of "softness" from his Republican opponent...
...been asked "not to rock the boat." If one calls the State Department to ask for comment on the most recent bombings, one gets the standard entree: "We abhor and condemn the use of violence for political purposes." If one asks the next logical question, namely, does martial law itself not in fact represent the "use of violence for political purposes" or at least repression, you will get the even more prevalent response: "No comment...
...have "a positive program for operational change." Another State Department official. Frazier Meade, country director for Philippine Affairs, says the U.S. would do best "to avoid the competition between Aquino and Marcos." And they are not an inhuman lot down at State; privately, one source conceded when asked about martial law, "We're caught in a real bind...