Murder of Aquino saw Marcos begin to falter

Press, 25 February 1986, Page 8

Murder of Aquino saw Marcos begin to falter

NZPA-Reuter Manila Ferdinand Marcos has been President of the Philippines for 20 years.

As rebels took over a television station, cut him off the air and said they were setting up a provisional Government led by Mrs Corazon Aquino, Mr Marcos, aged 68, stubbornly claimed he had them on the run and declared a state of emergency. The exhausted President vowed to fight out the rebellion in spite of warnings from the United States that it would cut off all military aid if he used military force against a revolt backed by the Philippine people. Mr Marcos had already ridden out accusations at home and overseas that his New Society Movement used fraud to cheat Mrs Aquino of victory, even though most Western countries condemned the polls on February 7 and threatened diplomatic retaliation.

The United States, the main backer of Mr Marcos since he first became President in 1965, issued its strongest condemna-

tion of his victory only hours after the military began its uprising and two days before Mr Marcos was due to be sworn for his fourth six-year term as President.

His iron grasp first began to falter with the disorders and economic problems after the murder in 1983 at Manila airport of Mrs Aquino’s husband, Benigno, an opposition leader considered most likely to challenge his rule.

In parliamentary elections in May, 1984, opposition and independent candidates made serious inroads into the Marcos party’s solid majority in the national assembly. The country also had debts of SUS2S billion that had to be restructured.

An official inquiry into the Aquino murder named 26 men including the duet of the Armed Forces, General Fabian Ver, as indictable for involvment in the murder of Mr Aquino and his alleged assassin Roland Galman whom the military said was a communist hitman. The inquiry report pro-

duced more attacks on Mr Marcos and the United States pressed for justice to be done.

A special court ruling that found General Ver and his 25 co-defendants not guilty last December and Mr Marcos’ immediate reinstatement of him as military supremo sparked controversy at home and overseas.

Mr Marcos was nearing the end of his second term in office when he proclaimed martial law in September, 1972, declaring that a rebellion plot was afoot. He closed several papers which later reopened under slightly different names but were often headed by his close associates.

He arrested many opposition leaders including Mr Aquino, retained power through a series of referendums, and introduced a new constitution which made him President and Prime Minister. He lifted martial law in 1981, but retained many of its powers. His own forceful personality, and his re-election in June, 1981, for a further six

years kept him firmly at the helm of national life.

Promotion of his wife, Imelda, to the Cabinet as Minister of Human Settlements and Metropolitan Manila Governor fanned criticism of what his opponents said was one man-rule.

Mr Marcos has been a controversial figure since the age of 21 when he was convicted of killing a politician who defeated his father in a congressional election, but he was later acquitted by the Supreme Court.

Mr Marcos was born on September 11, 1917, in Sarrat in the Northern Province of Ilocos Norte. In 1939 he was a “top notcher” at law school. He studied for bar exams while in jail and topped them with the country’s highest-ever average. His legal career was interrupted by the Pacific war and he emerged as the country’s most decorated soldier after the Japanese occupation.

His' 27 medals and his war-time role were seriously questioned by United States reports be-

fore the presidential elections. They said he faked his war-hero career and that the guerrilla force he claimed to have led against the Japanese never existed. After the war Mr Marcos entered politics as a member of Congress for the Liberal Party. In 1964 he switched to the Nationalistas, and defeated the incumbent, President Diosdado Macapagal. Re-elected in 1969, he shocked the nation by declaring martial law during what should have been his final term. He cited a centuries old Muslim rebellion in the south, insurgency by the Communist guerrilla New People’s Army and the global oil crisis as reasons for maintaining martial law for nine years. After martial law was lifted he swept to power again in June, 1981, with 88 per cent of the vote in the face of an opposition election boycott. After Mr Aquino’s murder, Mr Marcos had to accept constitutional changes including restoration of the vice-presi-dency