PHILIPPINES
Coup reveals fragility of Aquino regime
HE LAST attempted coup took place in August 1987. A precarious equilibrium was then negotiated between the civil administration and the military. It lasted 27 months, but it did not hold up against the erosion of Aquino's popularity and the approach of the elections scheduled for 1992.
THE COUP D'ETAT against the Aquino regime in the Philippines, which began at the end of November, has been defeated. But it has been the most serious of the six attempted putsches in the country since the fall of the Marcos dictatorship in February 1986. The consequences of the recent events will be grave part in overthrowing the old regime. Since 1987 they have been attacking Aquino. They echo the discontent of the officers by denouncing government corruption. "Was it for this that soldiers died?" asks RAM.
The situation has deteriorated. The journalist Philippe
The President's decision to set up a strong police force independent of the army probably precipitated the crisis. But above all it is the very nature of
Pons has noted that "some intellectuals, whose support for democratic values is not open to doubt, are now saying that they would support a junta if it were able to put a stop to the current breakdown."5
Nonetheless the Philippine Nonetheless the Philinnine left has violently denounced the putsch. and unambion. the putsch, and unambiguously rejects any kind of military regime. A vast coalition was formed under the name "Kilos" to fight against the coup d'etat; the socialist organization Bisig and the Volunteers for Popular Democracy are a part of this coalition. Kilos, along with sectors of the Church, took the initiative of calling on the population to demonstrate at EDSA, the highway where the uprising against Marcos took place in 1986. Corazon Aquino "co-opted" this initiative, turning it into a demonstration of support for her presidency that attracted over 100,000 people. State of emergency opposed by left
The political independence of the popular organizations has however been clearly affirmed. In particular, Kilos has opposed Aquino's declaration of a state of emergency. The restrictions on democratic rights entailed by this measure could very easily be turned against the mass movement. The clandestine organizations like the National Democratic Front have also condemned both the attempted coup and the declaration of the state of emergency.
The Aquino presidency has been weakened still further by this experience. Before the 1992 election campaign has even begun, the Philippines have been shown to be more unstable than at any time since the fall of Marcos. * 1. See /V 126, September 28, 1987. 2. Keith Richburg, International Herald Tribune, December 9-10, 1989. 3. Philippe Pons, Le Monde, December 8, 1989. 4. International Herald Tribune, December 4, 1989. 5. Le Monde, December 7, 1989. 6. Kilos - Kilusan Laban sa Kudeta (Anti-Coup Movement).
the regime itself which is being challenged.
The rebel officers kept quiet te t tes kept quiet for a long time, but finally made known their demands - scheduled for 1992.
PAUL PETITJEAN the resignation of Aquino and the govern- me resignation or Aquino and the government, the formation of a military junta, including politicians and civilian experts. Over and above the intense factional struggles inside the military, however, and its differences over timing and means, a growing section of the armed forces seems to aspire to outright conquest of power. Mutineers hold positions for more than a week
Several thousand soldiers and officers participated actively in the recent attempted coup, amongst them elite units such as the Marines, who were well armed with light tanks, mortars and heavy machine guns. For more than a week, the mutineers held positions in the business district of Makati, in the capital, as well as the Mactan air base in the centre of the archipelago. According to the press, they enjoyed "widespread support from various military units throughout the country". 2 On Cebu, an island in the centre of the archipelago, and in the province of Cagayan, in the north of the country, this support was expressed very openly.
We are no longer dealing with putsches intended to put pressure on the government, "shots across the bow" like that of July 1986. What has happened now is "a veritable insurrection of a part of the army'3 . It seems an established fact that the rebel troops would have been victorious were it not for the intervention of US forces — US fighter planes provided air cover for the regime on Wednesday 1 20 December when the government air force was paralyzed and the presidential palace had been attacked. The situation was so serious that Aquino had even asked Washington to bombard the positions held by the mutineers - which Bush refused to order*
The intervention of the American forces constitutes a very dangerous precedent which could help Washington to justify a growing interference in the political life of the archipelago. It places the Aquino presidency in a position of great weakness at the moment when negotiations on a new treaty on the presence of US bases are due to begin. The various mass organizations of the Philippine left have sharply denounced this resorting to foreign interventio, when the population was not actively mobilized to combat the coup.
For their part, the rebel officers played on populist and nationalist sentiments. They denounced both the American intervention and the incompetence of the regime, and called for an "honest" military junta. They frequently claimed to be the heirs of the RAM - the Movement for Reform of the Armed Forces of the Philippines - that prepared the 1985 coup against Marcos and in 1986 took
International Viewpoint #76 • December 25, 1989 and lasting. This instability is undermining the authority of the President at a time when a new treaty on the presence of US bases is to be signed in 1991 and when general elections are
SPANISH STATE