Chronology of events in Philippines

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 23

Chronology of events in Philippines

NZPA-AP Manila Here is a chronology of events leading up to the showdown between President Ferdinand Marcos and two military leaders in the Philippines: November 3, 1985: Mr Marcos declares he will hold a special presidential election to placate domestic critics and show the United States he still enjoys public support. The National Assembly sets February 7 as the election date.

The United States, which has important military installations at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Naval Base, was worried about Mr Marcos’s ability to quell a growing Communist insurrection in the countryside. December 2: The yearlong trial of the Armed Forces chief, General Fabian Ver, a longtime ally of Mr Marcos, and 25 other defendants accused of the 1983 assassination of Opposition leader, Benigno Aquino, ends in the acquittal of all defendants.

December 3: Corazon Aquino, widow of the slain Opposition leader, declares her candidacy. The Opposition initially is fragmented, and Salvador Laurel also declares his candidacy. Eventually Mr Laurel agrees to become Mrs Aquino’s vice-presi-dential running mate, and

the Opposition forms a united front against Mr Marcos. January 18, 1986: The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Sin, accuses Mr Marcos’s party of spreading propaganda slurring Mrs Aquino and intimidating voters. Cardinal Sin says any government that wins by such “evil tactics”, has no moral authority. February 5: Two days before the presidential election, Mrs Aquino addresses the largest political rally in the history of the nation, an estimated one million people, at a city park. A citizens’ watchdog group, the National Movement for Free Elections, announces that it will post poll-watchers to report ballot results early in an attempt to prevent fraud in the vote counting. February 7: N.A.M.F.R.E.L. pollwatchers and United States and foreign election observers say that they have witnessed many instances of fraud, votetampering, violence and intimidation by Marcos partisans. February 8: Mrs Aquino takes the lead in N.A.M.F.R.E.L.’s tally of precinct results. The Government’s vote-counting proceeds much more slowly, and shows Mr Marcos leading.

February 15: The National Assembly, in which Mr Marcos’s governing party holds twothirds of the seats, finishes the official vote count and declares Mr Marcos the winner by 1.5 million votes. February 16: Mrs Aquino announces a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience aimed at pressuring Mr Marcos to resign. President Ronald Reagan, after K blaming both sides for fraud four days earlier, now says Mr Marcos’s backers committed such widespread abuse that the election may be invalid. February 20: Mr Marcos denounces what he calls foreign intervention in internal Philippine affairs and says if the Opposition turns to civil disobedience, he may charge its leaders with sedition. . February 22: The Defence Minister, Juan Ponce Enrile, and Lieu-tenant-General Fidel Ramos, saying they and opposition leaders were about to be arrested, resign from the Government and take shelter in suburban Manila military camps. They demand that Mr Marcos resign and turn over power to Mrs Aquino.