Realignment in Aquino gov't: Filipino capitalists shored up

Scan page 12

Demonstration of 250,000 at the burial of Rolando Olalia, a trade-union leader who was assassinated by the Philippine army 12 SOCIALIST ACTION JANUARY 1987 The Nov. 23 firing of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile marked a key step in the attempt to normalize capitalist rule in the post-Marcos Philippines.

In one stroke, President Corazon Aquino eliminated her strongest rival from the cabinet while simultaneously depriving the left of one of its most popular issues. A few days later, a 60-day truce was signed between government forces and the New People's Army (NPA), which is led by the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Aquino's achievements have strengthened the political influence of the Philippine army and its Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel Kamos.

Up to now, Aquino has been able to maintain her independence from both the army and the mass movement because of the conditions under which she came to power. The "February revolution" com -bined a split in the military with a spec -tacular mobilization of "people power."

The unstable coalition that ruled for nine months was the result. The United States and the "elite opposition" at the head of the anti-Marcos movement needed the army to quell peasant insurrection; the army needed a new government to whitewash an image tarnished by two decades of dictatorship.

Both needed Aquino to channel the militant sentiments of millions of impoverished workers and peasants. Aquino's job was made easier because the leaders of the mass organizations sub -ordinated raising independent demands to maintaining "critical support" to the government.

Rivalries in the government Because the ruling coalition was the product of political expediency, political and personal conflicts soon erupted. Two issues threatened their unity. The first concerned the duration of the Aquino regime itself. Would it yield to elections after the adoption of a new constitution or would it continue indefinitely?

Grooming themselves for the succession, Enrile and Vice President Salvador Laurel each counted on the first option. To their dismay, the constitutional commission appointed by the president proposed extending Aquino's term another six years, forcing the schism within the government into the open.

But the more important issue-parti -cularly to the United States-was the rebellion in the countryside. Aquino backed the liberals in her government in seeking a negotiated settlement, while Enrile, Ramos, and later Laurel advocated a harder military stance.

Unequivocal U.S. support for Aquino only came after she pledged to take up "the sword of war" if negotiations with the NPA did not soon bear fruit.

Enrile turned to his power base in the lif"'...

Rouge armed forces. Army actions, including the capture of NPA commander Rudolfo Salas, were aimed at sabotaging peace talks. Finally, amidst preparations for a coup, nationalist union leader and head of the People's Party (PnB) Rolando Olalia was assassinated on Nov. 16.

Aquino strengthens army

In the wake of a 250,000-strong funeral procession for Olalia, Aquino fired Enrile. Ramos supported the movebut at a price. Several liberals were ousted from their positions in the government.

Despite the nostalgia about "people power," Aquino turned to the army to remove Enrile. Nine months of "eliteopposition" rule had led to the demobi -lization and disillusionment of millions who marched with Aquino in February.

Nevertheless, the leaderships of the nationalist and workers' organiza -tions-from BAYAN and the PnB, to the May First Movement workers federation and the Communist Party-continued to ..S. Africa (continued from page 1: “Christmas boycott in S. Africa spotlights torture of children”) dull as of someone who seemed to be dead to the world for much of the time. When he walked, it was with a slow painful shuffle like a punchdrunk ex-boxer."

Johnny had been arrested and brutalized for the "crime" of carrying a donation to the house of a school friend who was shot by police. "When I saw him," Tutu remarks, "I wanted to cry, but most of all I was filled with a blazing anger against a system that could do this to a child." (Report of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, April 1986)

Despite the protests of numerous international human-rights organizations, the South African government has give "critical support" Aquino government.

Despite the regime's inability to provide jobs or land, and although it continued the tradition of kowtowing to the United States, the left limited itself to making the ousting of Enrile its central demand. The minister's removal stole the movement's thunder without any corresponding gains.

Though Enrile himself left the govern -ment, the Ramos-Aquino bloc accom -plished one of his central goals. The army —fundamentally the same institution that guaranteed martial law for Marcos—has become a key player in Philippine politics. This factor will be especially crucial in the current negotiations with the NPA.

The ceasefire Despite the signing of a 60-day ceasefire, no fundamental concessions were made by either side. The NPA has insisted on thorough social reform and national independence as conditions for ending its 16-year struggle.

redoubled its terror campaign. On the eve of the Christmas boycott, police banned virtually all meetings by Black groups.

Pretoria has tried to justify its latest clampdown on civil liberties by references to a "revolutionary onslaught" supposedly planned by the African National Congress. The U.S. government has been complicit in laying the groundwork for these attacks on the freedom movement.

The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 passed by Congress in October, for example, declares the ANC and other anti-apartheid groups "terrorist" and "violent." The act seeks to restrict the activities of the ANC in this country, claiming it is a "foreign agent."

One portion of the act warns "that some of the organizations fighting apartheid have become infiltrated by Communists." South In an interview following the signing of accords, for example, CPP spokespersons declared a lasting peace impossible unless the U.S. bases, "the cornerstone of American control and domination of the Philippines," are closed. (San Francisco Examiner, Dec. 8, 1986)

Obviously, the Philippine army-equip -ped and trained by the United States-will never concede this demand.

The CPP-NPA were drawn to the negotiating table by the toppling of the dictatorship, their main recruiting agent. The democratic space that opened up made continued armed struggle politically inexpedient. The new importance of the army has narrowed that space.

Nevertheless, the political center of gravity remains in the cities, where the people have taken advantage of the new freedom to organize. The ceasefire will allow the CPP a public office in Manila and permit it to openly influence aboveground politics for the first time in its history.

Its leverage in the upcoming negotiations will depend not only on military strength, but on the extent that the workers and peasants are mobilized.

A united front of all the left parties, trade unions, and peasant organizations should be built around demands aimed at resolving the most pressing needs of the masses. Such demands inevitably lead to breaking out of the limits set by the Aquino government.

For example, the demand that the government stop payment on the $26billion foreign debt to the imperialist banks could mobilize millions of people in the streets-as it has done in many Latin American countries.

Aquino has refused to cancel the debt, calling instead for its "renegotiation" under terms similar to those implemented by Peruvian President Alan García. García is earmarking 10 percent of Peru's export earnings to repay the debt.

As long as the Philippine government honors its pledge to repay the Marcos debt to the imperialist banks, the resources of the country cannot be used to provide vitally needed jobs, housing, and land.

The new constitution The Feb. 2 plebiscite over the adoption of the so-called "Freedom Constitution" will be a test for the mass organizations as well as Aquino. The document contains a loophole which would permit the retention of U.S. bases in the country.

Yet despite the new constitution's pro-capitalist character, the Philippine left appears inclined to support it as a lesser evil. The socialist federation BISIG, for example, gave its "critical endorsement because its ratification will be a severe blow to the immediate threat to the democratic space." (Philippine News, Nov. 26-Dec. 2, 1986)

The workers' and peasants' movement thus remains tied to a pro-capitalist political framework, underscoring the absence of a consistent revolutionary leadership in the country.

The longer this continues, the easier it will be for the Philippine ruling class to institutionalize its rule and put the February mobilizations behind it. The recent realignment of the f quino government is the first step in this direction.

African Foreign Minister "Pik" Botha has stated his government's agreement with these red-baiting sections of the bill.

As in "contragate," Washington has been implicated in several illegal projects to supply arms to South Africa. The British newspaper The Independent revealed last month that the U.S. arranged air shipment of some 40 tons of arms from Honduras to points in South Africa and Namibia.

Post Office Box 404830 IMPACT Brooklyn, NY 11240-4830 718-855-2140 VISUALS Affordable phoros, cartoons, caricatures and illustrations for the movement and che progressive press

----- pull-quotes -----

INNOCEN PEOPLE