Newspapers & Misc. Publications (Fenkell Papers, Box 1, Folder 9)

Newspapers & Misc. Publications (Fenkell Papers, Box 1, Folder 9)

Articles, newspaper excerpts regarding the Marcos Dictatorship, the Benigno Assassination, Filipino contract laborers, and the People Power movement in the Philippines

1970s-1980s

JPG, PDF

ucdw_wa012_s001_0205-0223, ucdw_wa012_s001_f009

(OCR Text; See PDF for complete text)

DRAFT PF STATEMENT/ LETTER (ADDRESSED TO APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEES??)
The Reagan administration's fiscal 1985 foreign assistance
request provides for a$ million package to the Philippines.
Included in this package is the first installment of the $900
million negotiated under the bases agreement in the amount of
$180 million -- $95 million in ESF; $85 million in military
grants and loans.
American continued and unconditional support to Pres.
Marcos is extremely disturbing as it comes at a time when his
regime's legitimacy is being seriously questioned, not only by
the Filipino people but by the international community as well.
Marcos' credibility has plummeted drastically due largely to his
government's suspected complicity in the still unsolved assassination
of opposition leader Benigno Aquino.
As recent events have shown, opposition to the Marcos
government has grown dramatically from all sectors of Philippine
society. After 11 years of repressive rule, the Filipino people
are asserting that their only real chance for true democracy and
genuine freedom is for a complete dismantling of the Marcos
government. In concrete, a large segment of the opposition has
demanded for Pres Marcos' resignation and that a truly free and
open electiona can only be guaranteed under a caretaker government
that is truly representative of the people.
Equally disturbing in the Reagan administration's recommendationf
is the nonrecognition of increasing human rights violations committed
by the Philippine government, most especially by its armed forces .
"The Marcos regime has pursued a policy of repression .•. which
the United States has tacitly condoned by continuing to supply
military and economic aid without comment," states part of an open
(
2222
letter signed by 45 members of Congress to Pres. Reagan last
September 1, aaortly after the Aquino assassination. They also
questioned "whether it is in the long-term interest of the
United States to continue unconditional support to the Marcos
regime in light of its human rights record." Pres. Marcos'
record as a human rights violator has been well documented
by prominent international organizations such as :Amnesty
International and the Lawyers Committee for International Human
Rights.
Rather than listen to the popular demands of the Filipino
people, the Reagan administration has chosen to protect its
perceived military and economic interests in that country. For
what seems to concern US foreign policy makers more than anything
else is the fate of the two US military installations in the Philippines
-- a perception the this vital security interests w 11 be
jeopardized in the event a mildly nationalistic government were
to replace President Marcos' regime.
Concretely, the Reagan administration has decided to support
the parliamentary elections in May -- an exercise which attempts
to diffuse popular dissent by convincing the opposition to participate
in what is appearing to be a futile political undertaking. The
Reagan administration hopes that the participation of the opposition
would legitimize the National Assembly which is widely considered
as a legislature subordinate to the powers of President Marcos.
Such a National Assembly can then pave the way for a transition
government which would presumably be "friendly" to our country.
•
3333
But such a policy clearly runs coAnt r to the desires of the
Filipinos for genuine freedom and democratic processes. As
Americans concerned about hte preservation of true justice and
democracy abroad and the preservation of long-standing ties with
the Filipino people, we therefore, oppose this attempt by the
Reagan administration to push for these "normalization plans" and
"democratic processes" like the forthing elections inorder to
maintain our so-called "national security'' interests in the
Philippines. By supporting the Filipino people's right to selfdetermination,
we would be enforcing a correct and coherent foreigh
policy that ruly respects human rights of people everywhere and
teir desire to chart their own political destinies.
The US government has provided Pres. Marcos with close to
a billion dollars in military aid over the last 11 years. The
Reagan administration has pledged to give him $900 million more over
the next five years. Without US support, Pres. Marcos and other socalled
"friendly authoritarian regimes" like Pinochet of Chile
the Salvadoran military junta and Botha of South Africa would not be
in a position to continue oppressing their people. Giving Pres.
Marcos more aid, especially military aid, in the coming period
will further strengthen his resolve to unleash his military appartus
against anyone critical of his regime. By condoning the reprehensible
practices of Pres. Marcos andothers like him, we will in effect
be encouraging an unjust and undemocratic foreign policy -- a policy
that limits the democratic opposition, suspends human rights
and abrogates civil and poltiical liberties.
4444
We are therefore, requesting you, as legislators deliberating
on the appropriation of the economic and security assistance
to the Philippines that all assistance to the Marcos government
be stopped unless the Philippine government has made significant
progress in restoring democratic practices and processes in the
country and an that significant progress is also made to insure
A-UJ-h-u. £
that basic human rights ofthe Filipino are recogBi~ed .
STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE
TO OPPOSE THE MARCOS STATE VISIT
President Ferdinand 'v1arc os of the Philippines, a dictator that Washington has
proclaimed as a key pillar of its foreign policy in Asia, is coming to the U.S. early thrs tall on
an official state visit. ·
Though the Philippine~; has been a long-standing guardian of U.S. interests in the
Pacific, the Reagan administration is the first to extend the official invitation to the
dictator. The invitation is not merely a courtesy to Marcos who hosted not only VicePresident
Bush, but ex-Secretary of State Haig and Secretary of Defense Weinberger in
the past year. Reagan's welcome of Marcos marks the culmination of a 1 1 /2 year public
relations effort to perform the impossible: to transform Marcos' image from that of a
notorious violator of human rights to that of an "invaluable, democratic ally in defense of
the Free World." The thrust of this campaign was clearly stated by Vice-President George
Bush's grotesque toast to Marcos during his Manila visit last year: "We love your
adherence to democratic rights and processes."
Marcos is coming in the midst of an aggressive effort to reestablish U.S. political and
military dominance internationally. An essential component of this U.S. strategy is all-out
military, diplomatic and economic support to dictatorships in the Third World. To regimes
such as that of Marcos, of D'Aubisson in El Salvador, of Duvalier in Haiti-regarded as the
only reliable governments left to protect the economic and political interests of the U.S.
elite.
But this massive support takes a tremendous toll-not only on the people of the Third
World, who bear the brunt of U.S.-backed repression, but also on the people of the U.S.
who pay the price of severe cutbacks and increasing political repression at home.
Nowhere is this more sharply felt than by those such as anti-Marcos activists, Haitian
refugees, Salvadoran asylum-seekers -who as we have increasingly witnessed over the
past year, are the first to taste the bitter fruits of the reactionary alliance between the
Reagan administration and the dictatorships in their homelands.
MARCOS: A KEY PAWN IN U.S. STRATEGY FOR ASIA
Ever ~ince its defeat in Vietnam, the U.S. has maneuvered to regain hegemony in Asia.
Imperative to this hegemony are Subic Naval Base and Clark Air Force Base in the
Philippines-which form the axis of the American military strategy in Southeast Asia and
the logistical hub of military deployment to the Indian Ocean and the Middle East. The U.S.
considers Marcos a reliable security guard for these strategic U.S. bases, and Marcos in
exchange for $500 million in military aid, plays host par excellence to the U.S. military'.
To this role of faithful watchdog, Washington has recently added another for Marcos:
the principal spokesman for ASEAN. Without great difficulty, the U.S. is forging this
association of Southeast Asian dictatorships into a cohesive military alliance and the
principal mouthpiece for Cold War-style politics in the region.
ATTACKING THE OPPOSITION
In return for his services, Marcos has received two commitments from Reagan. The first
is continued military and economic assistance against the growing popular resistance
which threatens to engulf his regime. The second is a promise to silence the vocal
Philippine opposition in the United States.
The anti-Marcos opposition in the U.S. is a strong and vibrant movement with deep rqots
in the Filipino community and alliances within the broader progressive U.S. movement. Its
political strength is not only a threat to Marcos, but to the Reagan administration's every
move to bolster the repressive regime.
Over the last year, Haig's promise to crackdown on "Filipino terrorists" in the U.S. has
been translated into a coordinated strategy to destabilize the anti-Marcos opposition. In
November 1981, the U.S. signed an Extradition Treaty with the Philippines, the prime
object of which is to return Marcos' exile opponents and intimidate the resistance in the
U.S. That Treaty is now poised for ratification in the U.S. Senate. That same month, a
Federal Grand Jury convened in San Francisco to indict anti-Marcos oppositioriists on
charges of "exporting terrorism" under the U.S. Neutrality Act--at the same time that
Washington was encouraging the training of Nicaraguan Somocista exiles in Miami to
overthrow the Sandinista Government. Earlier, in June 1981, two anti-Marcos labor union
activists were gunned down in cold blood in Seattle. Evidence is now surfacing that this
act was the fruit of closer coordination between the U.S. and the Philippine intelligence
agencies.
The Marcos state visit then signifies a new, more dangerous turn in the U.S.-Philippine
alliance: in return for t .i1arcos' unqualified loyalty, Reagan has served notice that he will
actively assist the effort to extend martial law to the Filipino community in the U.S. The visit
is in fact, viewed by U S. and Philippi re officials as a test of whether the threat posed by
the Extradition Treaty will be able to intimidate the community from expressing in protest
actions and demonstrations the widespread hatred of the dictatorship which most
Filipinos share.
Reagan is prepared to strip people in the U.S. of their constitutionally guaranteed rights
to free speech and political assembly in order to advance a reactionary foreign policy.
WHO PAYS THE PRICE
Yet the price of the Marcos-Reagan political alliance will be paid not only by the Filipino
people and the Filipino community in the U.S. The curtailment of the rights of the Filipino
minority opens the door to broader assaults on civil and political liberties. History has
shown that restricting the rights of minorities is often a prelude to restricting the rights of
all.
Moreover, the burden of fortifying repressive regimes like the Marcos dictatorship, the
Suazo military government in Honduras and the murderous Salvadoran oligarchy is
placed on the working class of this country, and especially its Black and Third World
minorities, who are currently being stripped of basic social and economic services by the
transfer of billions of dollars from the social budget to the ever-escalating defense budget.
Indeed the brutal assault on basic human and political rights being carried out in the Third
World by U.S.-backed dictatorships is but the other side of the coin of the massive attack
on the fundamental economic and social rights of the people of this administration.
SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN TO OPPOSE THE MARCOS VISIT
Ferdinand Marcos' visit is a brazen challenge flung at all of us. It is a tangible symbol of
the intersection of U.S. support for repressive regimes abroad and increasing repression
at home. We repudiate this cynical attempt to paint this bloody dictator as a committed
democrat. We repudiate the political attack on persons whose only crime is to exercise
their right to oppose repression in their homeland. We urge you to join the growing
nationwide opposition to the state visit of Philippine dictator Marcos.
(revised August, 1982)
To join the Committee or for more information, contact:
W e st Coast:c/o CAMD National Office, P.O. Box 173, Oakland, CA 94668
East Coast: c/o Congress Task Force, 1322 18th St. N.W. Washington D.C.
(202) 223-5611
- -
Foes have secret plan
for a post-Marcos era
By Phil Bronstein
Examiner staff writer
e 1984, San Fnnclsco Examiner
Prominent opponents of Philippine President
Ferdinand Marcos have drawn up a
secret report that maps out their emergency
political plans if Marcos should suddenly die
or leave office.
The plan, obtained by The Examiner
from a variety of sources in Manila, includes
a list of 12 "standard-bearers" from which
opposition presidential and vice-presidential
candidates would be chosen. Among those
named is Rafael Salas, the Philippines' chief
delegate to the United Nations.
Under the plan, code-named "Opention
Fast Track," a "convener group" of three
"who have agreed to take the initiative," will
make key initial decisions: Corey Aquino,
wife of slain opposition leader Benigno Aquino,
aging oppositionlst and former Sen. Lorenzo
Tanada and business executive Jaime
Ongpin.
Organizers of the plan hope Aquino and
Tanada will appeal to the blcreastngly influential
leftist segment of the Marcos opposition,
although there is no guarantee that
enough anti-Marcos elements will join "Fast
Track" to make it a success.
Noting that the ''truly broad spectrum of
opposition groups have no agreement on
how to get together bl a unified effort," the
plan seeks to "avoid the kind of scrambling,
quarreling and infighting that will leave the
opposition in disarray."
Completed last week in its draft form by a
small group of Manila businessmen who quietly
&(\vise opposition pollticlans, the eightpage
plan calls for the complex organm-
-See baek page, eol. 4
Eiteminer /Kim Komenlch
COREY AQUINO, BENIGNO'S WIDOW
Key leader of Phlllpplne oppoaltlon
Falwell loses
libel suit but
gets $200,000
. ROANOKE, Va. (UPD- Sex maga:
zine publisher Larry Flynt did not
1libel the Rev. Jerry Falwell by print,
tng an advertisement parody calling
the evangelist an incestuous drunk,
but he did intentionally inflict emotional
distress, a federal jury decided
last night.
The jury ruled there was no libel
because the ad's claims, published in
the sexually explicit Hustler magazine,
were too outrageous to be believed.
But it said Falwell was entitled
to $100,00> in actual damages for emotional
distress and $100,00> in punitive
damages for what it said was a malicious
parody.
Flynt's lawyers said they planned
'to ask U.S. District Court Judge James
Turk to set aside the award and said
-See Page AS, eol. 1
Ar . U) Everyone ha duties to the <'ommun1ty
'n which alone the free and full dev<'lopm nt of hi
ersonality is possible.
(2) In the xerdse of his rights and fre doms, ev1'ryo
all be ubjert only to such lim1Lations a ar ·
determined by law solely for the pur osc of e<"uring
du rerognition and respect for the right and freed
ms of other and of meeting the jus r quir<'mcnt
o! morality, publk order and the general welfar, in
democ:a-atic IOCi ty.
(3) TheM · us and freedoms may in no case be
............ ===
exNe:.·,•d rontr ry to the purpo c and princip f
the Unit d Nation .
Artfrl 30. Nothin, in thi. Dl' larali n m y rpn•
t,·d a'l implying for any .'l. tr, gr up or p r n any
right to <>ngage in ny activity or to perform an • act
· imcd at th d<' trurtion of any of the ri ht and
frc doms s t forth herein.
A opted by th G nera.l Assembly, on 10th D e
1948 .
r
THE FILIPINO AS CONTRACT LABORER
by Lloyd H. Fisher
1
••• The remaining group of agricultural laborers who played a significant
role in the labor force attached to California agriculture was the
Filipino. Still prominent at present, major immigration of Filipinos to
California took place during the period 1920 to 1930, In this decade some
31,000 Filipinos entered California, of whom the majority found employment
in agriculture.
The Filipino was, by most criteria, well adapted to rnagratory work.
As a group it was young, male, and single. The handicaps of a strange
language, an alien culture, and a different skin color served to exclude
the Filipino from cnany occupations to which he might have proved even
better adapted than to agriculture; and, as had proved the case with other
minority groups, agriculture with its virtual absence of conventional employment
standards, was the beneficiary.
The case of the Filipino was much like that of the Japanese. Labor
was organized under a contract system which closely resembled the Japanese
form of organization. Although the following account is more enthusiastic
than others of the period, its description of the "club" organization of
the Filipino work force is essentially accurate.
As a migratory laborer, the Filipino has been largely employed
in salmon canneries, fruit farms, vegetable gardens and sugar-beet
ranches. In the Salinas beet and lettuce fields they formerly received
fifteen cents an hour, but in the summer of 1933 their pay
was raised to twenty cents an hour. A day's work varies from five
to ten hours. The men work in gangs under a labor contractor who
recruits, organizes, boards and disciplines them, and to whom they,
in r-.eturn, pay sixty cents a day for baths, board and room in "clubs"
or camps where they have Filipino food.
A labor contractor may operate from 30 to 120 men in several
gangs. Some of these "clubs" are only crude white-washed shacks,
but there is a tendency, in building new camps, for the labor contractor
to make them attractive little cottage communities, with
facilities for recreation for the men when off duty. The labor
boss, in turn, contracts with the larger farmers or big agricultural
companies to bring his gang and pick a field of lettuce or
weed a field of sugar-beets. The work is done quickly and efficiently
and just when it is needed. When the job is finished the
gang piles into the contractor's trucks and goes off to the camp
or to another job,23
And further in an accute passage Palmer remarks:
It is very interesting to observe the type of Filipino community
which is growing up in Salinas on the basis of a group of some
three thousand agricultural laborers, practically all unmarried
young men .• ,.The chief organizations are the Labor Supply Association,
the newspaper, the various clubs, and the churches. The
Labor Supply Association seems to be somewhat like a Chinese trade
guild. Its dominant directing element is made up of the labor
contractors, but the laborers themselves are also members in a
sort of junior capacity. 24
It .is precisely this guild character which distinguished the ,,Japamese
and Filipino contract system from the Mexican and Chinese. It is
--~----------- ---
3
opportunities, he organizes the workers into groups, he may direct
their migration, and he may obtain better terms for the contract
group whom he represents. In the absence of a well-functioning
labor exchange, he to some extent plays the role which they should
play. It is only because of the absence of such labor exchanges,
which would gather information about labor demand and labor supply
from week to week and would hand it on to the migratory wo::-ker, that
there is room for the contractor to function •••• 27
This is closer to the mark, but still underestimates the services
rendered by labor contractors, particularly services rendered to employers.
The following chapter will examine these services in detail. From this
examination should emerge a clearer insight into the organizing role of
the labor contractor in a most disorganized market.
N,@TES.
23Albert W. Palmer, Orientals¥! American Life, Friendship Press,
1934,2£· 79.
- Ibid., p. 8.
25Brawley (California)~. November 20, 1935.
26 Ibid,, December 19, 1935,
27mgratory Labor £!l California, p. 208.
--- Editorial From: '/-IJ.3
Los Angeles Times
Blustering In Manila
The Fourth of July observance of
Filipino-American Friendship Day
took a different turn this year in
Manila. Close to 1,000 Filipinos congregated
in front of the American
Embassy to demonstrate their dissatisfaction
with U.S. policy. They were
protesting too much friendship, not
too little. They were angry about the
support of their president, Ferdi•
nand E. Marcos, that they perceived
in the visit of Secretary of State
George P. Shultz 10 days earlier.
Shultz had conveniently and correctly
focused on the "very special"
relationship between the two nations
rather than on Philippine leadership,
thus at least avoiding the embarrassment
that followed on Vice
President George Bush's praise for
Marcos-style democracy on a previous
visit. We can assume that in private
Shultz may have dug a bit deeper.
Reporters traveling with the secretary
of state were reminded by
"senior officials" in the party that
"the Marcos regime is entering its
twilight, and we don't want to find
ourselves in the same position we
did in Iran when the shah was
overthrown."
Dealing with despots is never as
easy as demonstrators would have
us believe. And dealing with Marcos
is complicated by the historic connection
that also accounts for two
much-prized bases. American control
over Subic Bay Naval Base and
Clark Air Base will expire In 1991,
just about the time when there will
likely be a struggle for control of the
country.
Marcos made the matter no easier
in his petulant and irrelevant response
to visiting congressmen, concerned
about human rights in the
Philippines. He suggested that he
would turn to the Soviet Union if
Americans failed to come up with
the $900 million assistance program
agreed on for the next five years.
The implication In his rude remarks
'f'.as that thi~ I~ TP!1t 'fl" thP ha•P• ""
doubtless was reminded later by
cooler staff members that American
rights to the bases are absolute until
1991, and foreign concern about his
excesses of power cannot provide an
excuse to change that.
The Filipinos In front of the
American Embassy may have attributed
more power and Influence to
America than it has. Washington has
not ruled Manila for a very long
time. The Filipinos, not the Americans,
are going to decide what to do
next. But the process of the succession
has been complicated by corruption,
by a widening gap between rich
and poor, and by the erosion of
democracy and freedom that have
characterized Marcos' control of the
nation. American officials have
sometimes chosen to Ignore these
problems In their single-minded
commitment to maintaining the bases.
That may prove, In 1991, to have
been a riskier policy tban pursuing
orlnclples as well as bases.
I
I
I
I
I'
' I
I
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, Saturday, September 17, 1983
~;,,ilippine Protests Grow
In the first major display of anti-government sentiments In the
Filipino business community, workers In Makatl took to the
UP
streets Friday carrying opposition leader Salvador Laur,
calllng tor the resignation of President Ferdinand Marcos.
I
I
I
I I
I
I
I
◄
◄
◄
◄
Marcos Rival
Reported Shot
In Philippines
MANILA (UPI) - Self-exiled
Philippine opposition leader Benigno
Aquino was gunned down seconds
after he was whisked by military
agents from a jetliner bringing him
back to his homeland today, witnesses
aboard the plane said.
Passengers, including severa l
journalists on board the China Airlines
plane, said they saw Aquino
lying in a pool of blood on the airport
tarmac, his head nearly severed.
Witnesses said there was a flurry
of shots seconds after Aquino left the
aircraft in the custody of security
men who boarded the plane on its
arrival today.
"Aquino was lying in a pool of
blood," said United Press International's
Max Vanzi, who flew in on
the plane with Aquino.
"Blood was -gushing out his head
and his mouth. They stuffed his body Benigno Aquino
in a military van and drove away."
Bee file photo
Witnesses reported seeing a man
in civilian clothes fire a shot at Aquino.
The man was then shot by soldiers
and slumped to the ground,
they said.
At least two witnesses said they
saw uniformed men fire at Aquino
from a distance of 3 feet.
"They shot him," a stunned passenger
who was one of the first people
off the plane said. "I couldn't see
him but they shot him because I
heard it," said the passenger who
asked not to be identified.
Hundreds of supporters wearing
yellow ribbons and carrying signs
reading "Welcome Home, Ninoy"
waited outside the airport, unaware
that Aquino had been shot.
The airport had been placed
under tight security Saturday night
in anticipation of Aquino's return.
A ramp leading to several gates on
the south side of the new Manila
International Airport were sealed
off by several heavily armed security
men, who refused to allow journalists
into the arrival area.
Aquino's family, including his
mother and nine brothers and sisters
and several top Filipino opposition
leaders, were waiting in an airport
lounge. •
See GUNSHOTS, Back Page, A28
.................... _....Ar.. ...............
* * • The Sacramento Bee • Sunday, August 21, 1983
.t.n. 0 .c
tn
C
::,
C,
◄
·- -- .. - .. - .. - - -- .--...-___ - -
Marcos Rival
Reported Shot
In' Philippines
MANILA (UPI) - Self-exiled
Philippine opposition leader Benigno
Aquino was gunned down seconds
after he was whisked by military
agents from a jetliner bringing him
back to his homeland today, witnesses
aboard the plane said.
Passengers, including several
journalists on board the China Airlines
plane, said they saw Aquino
lying In a pool of blood on the airport
tarmac, his head nearly severed.
Witnesses said there was a flurry
of shots seconds after Aquino left the
aircraft in the custody of security
men who boarded the plane on its
arrival today.
"Aquino was lying in a pool of
blood," said United Press Interna•
tional's Max Vanzi, who flew in on
the plane with Aquino.
"Blood wa5 gushing out his head . .
and his mouth. They stuffed his body Benigno Aquino
Bee file photo
in a military van and drove away."
Witnesses reported seeing a man
in civilian clothes fire a shot at Aquino.
The man was then shot by soldiers
and slumped to the ground,
they said.
At least two witnesses said they
saw uniformed men fire at Aquino
from a distance of 3 feet.
"They shot him," a stunned passenger
who was one of the first people
off the plane said. "I couldn't see
him but they shot him because I
heard ii," said the passenger who
asked not to be identified.
Hundreds of supporters wearing
yellow ribbons and carrying signs
reading "Welcome Home, Ninoy"
waited outside the airport, unaware
that Aquino had been shot.
The airport had been placed
under tight security Saturday night
in anticipation or Aquino's return.
A ramp leading to several gates on
the south side of the new Manila
l11ternational Airport were seated
off by several heavily armed securj,
ty men, who refused to allow journalists
into the arrival area.
Aquino's family, including his
mother and nine brothers and sisters'
and several top Fillpino opposilloil
leaders, were waiting in an alrpott
lounge.
See GUNSHOTS, Back Page, AZ8
, ....... , .... Ar,. .. . ...... .... ..
* * * The Sec:nlmento IN • Sunclai,, Augult 21, 1913
~~=.sc O Q.) ctl 0 =., S-c;::
~-~cu~~
B-g58."ii ~-;~ ~~
.2~ f i!?C
.8 ~ ~-!a~ "0
"C au~ - E ._ __
G.>O-QJQJ
.... - :> "C
-c-- ., 4'·-
.c: t: .,
~e
:!;-c:,
.. f 4l .,
g~~:56
S.S!~;
§ e 3 : ~ ., --Y.l
~E§~-~
- ~ rJ') .c 'i:::,
"ii r.n o O.
>-4' u
c~
~ '-~ 0 i,ij = "C 0) QC 0.
ctl C - >,
-~CO ~£f
·~ ~ 8~~
~-; E~
~ g~ e.,
f---~~_g-=
C (I) •
OON -= ~~
:~:es;
- ·- QJ -~ ~ ~ .c-: u., - 4l ::e .
"ii N - ~~ ., ::, 0.
g.~~~.s
<Eal~~
<5"'"' .c: ., 4l
f-, u <I)
~~~
~~-;
~;~
~~o ·-De,
fc g
"C QJ ·-
c e.;
4l C C
cu '- ·-
.c ~;
~ im .c: 4l .,
oS~ ·= >, gii :JDr::
1' -<t::., e 0 C--
0.., .c:
-casg~:2
i 1a·; :~
"'"' r::1'.!!.c: --< ..... _ ·co u coo
a, Q,~ =;; ::e C c, Co,
C 0 ~:::, OD
·-:,::: .!!l ~.,..:
f:g;c~~ ~-j-'f; s,_ e as 0.Civ
QJ cu=IV:> - .c __ "Co
c ~.c·rnz
.2,::,G>Q.~c
~ i~ ~ Q. ·; 8.~ s:: 0 ~
8°"'~0-~·a
5 eg-~~
"\s ~ t§
~-4i=·i.t: •A :::: "'.c: Oil o 2 v, as :S - C 0.~
- C ._
g_ ~ 8.
~ .... ~~i E g-.m
0 < OE~ctlQJQJ
., u; ctl 6 ~== .c ::a"'u·.::f«i
1:1. U t O ·; QJ :i
•A E rJ 'E ·; "' t:: o v, e ua,r::r~&.E
C "" .. 4'<·- 0.:,
& .. i"'- t.,,::J U'J"C ::s 1 i>9 -;;
Cl c:'"" Oo
C, -= !.!!! ''olil i<~::;-,_:5i
1.1 "':;;t m
;;;~
"0 ~ 4l
- .c: ::, 4l -
0 .c: 4l
"'~::! 0., >
c ae
-; 4l 0. .\!i
r::rS:l:! C <m:,4'
-cu 8 E
·;: cu B
U'J c.c.g
.. 0 Y.l -
GJ.::.: a.i OJ > v- :>
ctl CE D:, _
- C: ctl
0 0 ctl vi
.:., ...., v.i C CO
~~5B~
mB=t:-o
tiC o ~-!! .!!lc:,-4ic
en_ - QJ
0 Q"C c,::,
~~~-~~1{j
·- ti) - u .c .c
fls~ijll -c (,.) 0 "C ti) e ffl.!:~ ca~
'°a:i>. ~~
-o::eOl)~•a..:
"ij O.C<l)U .c"go~~o
QJ ctl _g...: Q.) ~
:c'E~f§E
~ f--,t >t.,J.1 .,.
•
- --- -~--~/¼E
- Editorial From:----------------------,
New York Times
The Right Messag~ To Manila
President Reagan catls it only a
postponement caused by the press of
bu iness in Congress, but he has
reached the nght decision · to cancel
next month's visit to Manila. The
ugly murder of President Marcos'
pohllcal foe. Benigno Aquino. is still
far from properly explained . Reagan
had no business embracing the
embattled dictator or involving himself
in any other way in the struggle
between his regime and a newly
aroused opposition.
It is simple prudence to stay
a"ay and good diplomacy to drop
Thailand and Indonesia from the
itinerary as well. By not singling out
the Philippines. Reagan avoids any
responsibility for compounding
Marcos· difficulties.
But whatever the pretext. Reagan's
absence will convey a desirable
message. The more Marcos has
tried to explain away the murder or
his rival as he was returning from
asylum in the United States, the less
convincing he has been. His own
commission of inquiry has all but
collapsed. Demonstrations or opposition
to his rule have now been seen
even among his once-arc\ent supporters
in Manila's financial district.
With the help or a loyal army, and
for lack or a clear alternatlw, Marcos
may ride out this most serious
challenge in 17 years. What be cannot
easily recover is his moral authority.
And it is not for Americans
to bestow it.
The United States' two vital bases
in the Philippines and its historic
obligatipns to that country require It
to avoid taking sides in the evolving
civil strife. These interests also require
pressing Marcos to reestablish
democracy before the violence
spreads and plays into th~ bands of
radical extremists. Reaga.n's canceJlation
is a good way to begin.
~-~~---- ------------:------.. ---~-------7
• • The Secramento Bee • Wednesday, August 24, 1983 &a
Name Stitched In Underwear
Brings Clue In Aquino's Death
By Ron Redmond
MANILA. Philippines (UPI)
The first firm clue in the assassination
of Benigno Aquino emerged
Tuesday from the nickname "Rolly"
stitched in the clothing of the man
the government said killed the opposition
leader.
Filipino leftists denied there had
been any Communist involvement in
the assassination of the charismatic,
50-year-old Aquino, as charged
Monday by President Ferdinand
Marcos.
Manila police chief Maj. Gen.
Prospero Olivas said investigators
were trying to trace the serial number
of the .357 Magnum handgun
allegedly used to shoot Aquino
moments after his arrival Sunday
from three years of exile in the United
States.
Salvador Laurel, president of the
United National Democratic Opposition
and a member of the country's
interim assembly, gave an address
before the Parliament Tuesday,
denouncing the "treacherous"
murder of Aquino.
He reiterated questions raised
earlier by opposition leaders over
bow the assailant was able to penetrate
airport security and get past
military guards to shoot Aquino at
close range.
Marcos· defense minister, Juan
Ponce Enrile, also addressed the
assembly, saying that "any hint of
any participation of the military in
the killing of Aquino is unpleasant
and undeserved."
"There are lots of possibilities
and we must wait for the results of
the investigation," he said.
The Batasang Pambansa, a rubber-
stamp parliament, unanimously
passed a bipartisan resolution expressing
the profound grief of the
Filipino people at the death of Aquino.
"He died of a heinous crime that
cannot be condoned by any civilized
society," the resolution said.
"His statements prior to his arrival
in the Philippines, as well as one
intended for delivery upon arrival,
uniformly showed his clear desire
for national reconciliation and unity."
Government television said the
name Rolly, a nickname for Rolando
sewn in brown thread in the alleged
gunman's underwear, was "the first
firm lead" in the case. Olivas said
the man also wore a gold ring with
the initial "R."
The alleged assassin was shot
down in a volley of military gunfire
seconds after the government said
he fired a single bullet into the back
of Aquino's head.
U.S. authorities are helping in the
investigation or the assassination of
Filipino opposition leader Benigno S.
Aquino Jr., the U.S. Embassy said
today.
In response to charges that military
guards killed Aquino, officials
said at least seven soldiers had been
disarmed and tests would be conducted
to determine who had fired
weapons during the brief burst of
gunfire on the tarmac of Manila
airport.
Tens of thousands of Filipinos
packed sealed-off streets outside the
family home in suburban Quezon
City for the second day to view Aquino's
bloodstained corpse on display
in an open casket.
Aquino's family flew to Manila
from Boston, where Aquino had
taught at Harvard University and
the Massacusetts Institute of Technology.
The United States has urged
Marcos to find those responsible for
the killing and bring them to justice.
The inquiry could influence President
Reagan's decision on whether
to proceed with plans to visit Manila
in November.
The government's offlcia autopsy
report listed the cause of Aquino's
death as "brain laceration and intracranial
hemorrhage" secondary
to a gunshot wound to the head.
Three bullet fragments were
found inside the single bullet wound
and given to authorities for ballistics
tests, the report said.