We stand with you—Bush to Marcos, 1981

Press, 26 February 1986, Page 10

We stand with you—Bush to Marcos, 1981

By H

RODNEY PINDER,

of

Reuter (through NZPA) Washington

In four years and seven months, the United States has turned from effusively praising the Philippines President, Mr Ferdinand Marcos, as a champion of democratic values to calling on him to get out in the name of peace and democracy.

The words of the VicePresident, Mr George Bush, on July 17, 1981, haunted Reagan Administration policy-makers yesterday. Attending Mr Marcos’s inauguration for a new six-year term after almost nine years of martial law, Mr Bush brushed aside opposition complaints of human rights violation by his regime.

Toasting Mr Marcos, Mr Bush said warmly, “We love your adherence to

democratic principles and democratic processes. “We stand with you, sir ... we will not leave you in isolation ... it would be turning our backs on history if we did.” ' Mr Bush’s remarks

quickly aroused controversy. Successive United States Governments — those of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter — had been avoiding open support for Mr Marcos since he took one-man control by imposing martial law in 1972.

Two former Philippines senators, Benigno Aquino and Raul Manglapus, immediately cabled Mr Bush, saying that “every word of praise for the Marcos dictatorship ... deepens the cynicism of the Filipino people and drives more of our countrymen, to the arms of the radical Left.”

Mr Aquino, regarded as the strongest rival to Mr Marcos, was shot dead on August 21, 1983, when he returned to the Philippines after three years exile in the United States. The Philippines has been in turmoil since.