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Tug of War in the Philippines
| Article
# : |
11126 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1986 |
1,759 Words |
| Author
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W. Scott Thompson (with John Rees and Kathleen Cahill)
W. Scott Thompson is a professor at the Fletcher School of Law
and Diplomacy at Tufts University, and a former assistant
director of the U.S. Information Agency. He hasauthored a
book on the Philippines in 1977 titled Unequal partners:
Philippine and Thai Relations with the United States. |
The 1986 Philippine election was but one scene of a play's last act, the curtain on which marked the end of the Marcos era. But the end of one drama may open the curtain of another; that of the future of the sovereignty of the Filipino people.
The last days of Marcos could well have formed the plot of a classical tragedy. Like Julius Caesar, Marcos's downfall was not so much the result of a loss of popularity amoung his people--he did, in fact win the election, naysayers to the contrary--but a loss of confidence on the part of Washington. And, the subsequent undercutting of his formerly loyal friends, Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and and Lieutenant General Fidel (which means faithful) Ramos.
Even Reagan, ally and long-time supporter, joined in stabbing Marcos's back, when, upon receiving intelligence reports of a planned meeting of presidential challenger Corazon Aquino with communist representatives, Washington's official policy flip-flopped from pro-Marcos to pro-Aquino. It was a matter of arithmetic; Aquino plus communists equals Philippine instability, which outweighs sentimental alliance and friendship hands down.
So, when on Monday, February 24, both Marcos and Aquino staged dubious swearing-in ceremonies, and each declared their mandates to rule, George Shultz broke the tie with the official U.S. announcement of recognition: for Aquino.
Moscow, in one of those classic Kremlin feats of political gymnastics, sided with Marcos in his eleventh hour, accusing the U.S. (probably correctly) of having engendered the coup. However, in
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