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University Daily Kansan
The Philippines
Monday, Feb. 24, 1986
Military spurs isle reform
United Press International
It consisted of about 2,000 officers dedicated to cleaning up the graft and cronyism that has plagued the 250,000-member military during President Ferdinand Marcos' 20 years of rule.
MANILA, Philippines - The rebellion in the Philippines grew in large part out of a military reform movement that surfaced one year ago.
Reports of a crackdown on the reform group and the opposition in part spurred Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and military Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos to revolt against the 20-year-old Marcos regime Saturday, saying Marcos should resign because his Feb. 7 election victory was fraudulent.
The move left the southeast Asian nation of 54 million people teetering on the edge of civil war for the first time since the Philippines gained independence from the United States in 1946.
Although he never formally acknowledged membership, Ramos has long been associated with the Reformed Armed Forces Movement. He is a West Point-trained
The reform movement surfaced a year ago, while Armed Forces Chief Fabian Ver went on leave to stand trial in the 1983 assassination of popular opposition leader Benigno Aquino.
career soldier who Washington hoped would spearhead reforms in the Philippine armed forces.
Most members, who said they wanted to see more discipline and professionalism in the military, are graduates of the Philippine Military Academy, and during its annual alumni parade, the junior officers unfurled signs before Marcos demanding reforms in the military, which faces a growing communist insurgency.
"We saw a very pronounced system of patronage, which we felt transceded the normal political environment and had adverse effects on the armed forces as a whole," said Col. Greg Honasan, 37, one of the reformists and among hundreds of soldiers in the rebellion.
Eventually, Honasaan said, this undermined the officer corps and the effectiveness of the military's counterinsurgency drive, worrying the United States, which has two large military bases in the country.
Diplomats renounce Marcos
United Press International
Philippine diplomats in the United States, Spain and Britain yesterday renounced the government of President Ferdinand Marcos, calling his Feb. 7 re-election over opposition leader Corazon Aquino a fraud.
The two high-ranking Philippine military officials seized the nation's defense headquarters Saturday,
Officials at the Los Angeles and Honolulu consulates said the diplomatic rebellion was in support of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and deputy chief of the armed forces Fidel Ramos.
precipitating the latest crisis.
Speaking for the opposition group in Hawaii, Tomas Gomez said discussions were under way with other Philippine consulates in the United States, "Others will follow. We still don't know which ones."
There was no immediate indication whether Philippine Embassy consults in New York, Seattle, Vancouver, Wash., San Francisco or Chicago would follow suit.
In Houston, six of 10 consular officials, including consul general Rudolfo Severino Jr., signed a statement urging Marcos to resign, but refused to endorse Aquino.
In Madrid, a top Filipino diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said he did not recognize Marcos.
Asked if the statement referred to Aquino, Severino said, "I refuse to talk personalities."
The diplomat said Marcos' election victory over opposition candidate Aquino, which was marred by charges of widespread fraud and violence committed by the government, was the last straw.
Aug. 25 --- Commission formed to investigate the murder.
Philippines/Chronology
Significant events in the Philippines since the August 1983 assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino;
JOSTENS AMERICA'S COLLEGE RING
Aug. 21 — Benigno Aquino is gunned down, allegedly by a borne gunman, while under military escort at the Manila Airport on return from three years of self-exile in the United States. Alleged assassin is killed by soldiers.
1983
March 28 — Security guards Erian Ranae and Olivia Reyes, in commission testimony, are first of several witnesses to contradict military statement that Aquino was shot on airport tarmac.
Aug. 30 — Government identifies notorious criminal Rolando Galman as the assassin.
Oct. 10 — Commission resigns under criticism that its members are beholden to Marcos. 1984
May 14 — Day of nationwide elections. Marcos opponents gain strength in Marcos-controlled National Assembly.
Oct. 24 -- Majority report of inquiry commission says Armed Forces Chief Gen. Fabian Ver and others plotted Aquilo murder.
Jan. 23 - Ver and 25 others named in Inquiry commission's report are charged in the Aquino staying.
1985
Feb. 1 — Trial of the 20 begins.
Nov. 3 — Under U.S. pressure,
Marcos promises presidential election.
Dec. 2 — Ver and 25 others acquitted in seven-month trial.
Feb. 22 — Defense Minister Juan Ponce Encele and Lt. Gin. Fidel Ramos, the military's vice chief of staff, steal control of the nation's military headquarters, demand that Marcos resign.
Dec. 3 — Corazon Aquino announces she will run for president. 1986
Feb. 15 — Philippine National Assembly proclaims Marcos winner of presidential election. Aquino, victor in an independent tally, calls for non-violent protests. Reagan statement blames Marcos for widespread fraud and violence.
CINCINNATI — The niece of Philippine opposition leader Corazon Aquino, on a tour of the United States, stopped to gather grassroots support in her campaign to urge President Reagan to acknowledge Aquino as president.
Feb. 7 — Filipinos vote in election monitored by U.S.
"Call Ronald Reagan. Tell him you are very concerned about the situation in the Philippines," she said. "One call is worth so much. I have a good feeling that we are going to make it. But the questions of when and how many lives will be lost in the meantime, we do not know."
Wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with "Cory Aquino is my president," Andrea Aquino Luna said Saturday that Filipino Americans represented the hope of her people back home.
Feb. 23 -- Marcos deploye armored combat units against rebel soldiers holed up in military installation.
Luna made the comments to about 35 people gathered at the home of her long-time friends Bondoc and Angelina Antonio. She plans to meet with Reagan aides today.
Filipino asks for support
A government-backed panel declared the incumbent Ferdinand E. Marcos the victor, but Luna said she knew differently. Despite the fraud, violence and murder of the election proceedings, Luna said her hope for democracy remained strong.
United Press International