Aquino opens door wide to U.S. big business
1986Sean Flynn 1986-11Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
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Eight months after the fall of the Marcos dictatorship, the regime of Corazon Aquino ows little sign of breakir g the Philippines' subordinate relationship to the United States. Mrs. Aquino's September visit to the United States confirms this.
On the eve of her meeting with Ronald Reagan, the Philippine Constitutional Commission hand-picked by Aquino overwhelmingly passed a draft clause which would allow the government to renew the leases for U.S. military bases in the country, subject to a plebiscite.
And in an address to the U.S. Congress, the Philippine president pledged she would take up the "sword of war" against the Communist Party-led New People's Army (NPA) if a ceasefire was not forthcoming.
Equally reassuring to the United States are Aquino's assurances to honor the Philippines' $26 billion debt-of which $14 billion is owed to U.S. banks. Moreover, the Philippine government is offering foreign capitalists the prospect of "less government interference in the economy," as a multi-page ad in the Sept. 19 New York Times declared.
Backing up these promises, the government has announced plans to reprivatize numerous companies absorbed by the government during the Marcos years. More than 30 companies in manufacturing, banking, and shipping-with assets of some $1.67 billion-are up for sale.
While many of these companies were taken over in an attempt to bail out financially-strapped Marcos cronies, others were seized from anti-Marcos capitalists in order to undermine their economic power. The government's "fire sale" thus represents a redistribution of wealth within the Philippine ruling class.
The Aquino government's open-door policy for big business has received due notice in Washington. A New York Times headline declared that "Reagan offers Aquino wide support," while a consortium of 483 U.S. banks agreed to lower the annual payments owed to them. And after some debate, the U.S. Congress authorized an additional $200-million aid package to the Philippine government.
Rifts in the government Last February, Marcos' defense chief, Juan Ponce Enrile, joined with Aquino and her running mate, the strongly pro-U.S. Salvador Laurel, to form a government capable of riding the crest of "people power" and outflanking the Communist Party (CPP) and other components of the workers' movement.
In recent weeks, despite Aquino's success (continued on page 10)