The promise of the widow’s might

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 14

The promise of the widow’s might

NICHOLAS CUMMING-BRUCE of the “Guardian,” London, asks whether Corazon Aquino can mount a serious challenge to President Marcos of the Philippines.

Corazon Aquino smiles ruefully as she reflects on the events that are propelling her to the front of the Philippines’ political stage. “Even my children say ‘Gosh, Mum, did you ever in your wildest dreams think that something like this could happen?’ and I say ‘No,’ because it was not something I aspired to.” A 52-year-old housewife with no political experience, the widow of the murdered opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, is the opposition front-runner to challenge President Ferdinand Marcos in elections scheduled for February 7. The path to her involvement in politics started with the assassination in August, 1983, of her husband, the country’s most able and charismatic opposition figure. The acquittal of Marcos’s righthand man, the chief of the armed forces, General Fabian Ver, and 25 others, tried for the murder, has not shaken her conviction that the

President himself was behind the killing. “My number one suspect is Marcos,” she said after the verdict. In the National Assembly elections last year, Mrs Aquino campaigned for the opposition, urging the public to get involved and register their vote. “I’m not the type who picks on anyone for a fight,” she says. “But having been a victim of this Marcos dictatorship I really would like to see the end of Marcos’ repression.” If she were to win the.election she would take over a country that has been sliding deeper into economic and political turmoil since her husband’s killing. She would also face tough decisions on whether to throw out the huge American military bases. On any dispassionate assessment, Cory Aquino has little chance of beating Marcos and his electoral aparatus. She has no political organisation of her own,

but the murder of her husband brought widespread sympathy for Cory, which makes her a difficult target for Marcos. In the present volatile political climate, Aquino supporters believe her appeal to voters’ hearts and consciences just might upset calculations.

prisoners, and a resolution of the American base issue by referendum.

Laurel, however, is mistrusted by many in the opposition, portrayed by some as an opportunist and by others as a client of the Americans. For many he is simply a traditional politician from the same mould as Marcos.

A growing number of Filipinos see in her their best hope of rallying the opposition and mounting a successful challenge.

Cory Aquino cuts a very different figure. The job of President is one she insists she does not want When she says that “taking it from a purely selfish view there is nothing in it for me,” she is believed.

The main rival for the nomination had been a former senator, Salvador Laurel, aged 57, leader of the United Nationalist Democratic Organisation (Unido), the biggest opposition group. He has now accepted the chance of being Mrs Aquino’s running mate. The son of President Jose Laurel, who held office during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, “Doy” Laurel has been eyeing the presidency since the start of the 19705. His main asset is the party organisation behind him. He has already spelt out the broad principles of a moderate platform emphasising a commitment to pluralistic politics, the legalisation of the Communist Party, an amnesty for political

Her strength is a disarming sincerity and candour, coupled with a high degree of moral integrity. Close friends observe that she is “very very tough.” Mrs Aquino has no doubt that these are her only electoral assets. “Organisation-wise we have to hand it to Marcos. Then moneywise, gosh, we will probably be able to raise just peanuts compared with what Mr Marcos has. So, just as my husband said, probably the only field where we could do battle with Mr Marcos is in the field of morality. Maybe if I do get into the campaign, it will be on that.”

Mrs Aquino’s position on the American bases, however, is not clear, and she candidly admits she has no economic programme. This would be sorted out with advisers after an election, she says. “So what do I have to offer the Filipino people?” she asks. “I guess only my sincerity and my pledge to bring about the necessary reforms that we are all looking for. What Tm very definite on is that I would like to write a new constitution.”

There is some doubt how much support Mrs Aquino will receive from Communist and Left-wing groups. They view her very much as a mixed blessing. A more benevolent Government would give us more freedom to organise, one activist said, but it could also stem the current drift towards more militant struggle. With or without that support, the fear of Mrs Aquino’s family and friends is that her challenge might be sufficiently credible to invite an assassin’s bullet. Cory is fatalistic. “Like my husband, I think when your time is up, no matter what you’re doing, that will be it. But for my children’s sake, I hope it won’t be so.”