The Philippines: Crackdown

The day appeared full of hope, with sunshine after three days of rain. There was no hint of the violence to come in Manila last week as some 3,000 demonstrators began marching from the U.S. embassy toward the presidential palace. Most of the noisy, jostling crowd was made up of farmers from central Luzon, one of the country’s principal rice-growing regions. Joined by militant students, they were protesting both high rice prices and U.S. support for the regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

As the demonstrators approached Manila’s Liwasan Bonifacio, a central square, they were met by police antiriot squads. Accounts of what happened next differ. The demonstrators said a motorcycle policeman rammed into the crowd and other police quickly joined him, firing at the crowd with live ammunition. The police, however, said the demonstrators mauled the officer and provoked the police into a reaction by throwing rocks and homemade bombs. In any event, the results were tragic. Two students were killed, one instantly; about 20 other demonstrators were wounded, and several policemen suffered shrapnel wounds.

According to some Philippine opposition leaders, the violence was an outgrowth of the regime’s new get-tough policy, which is seen as a response to the visit to Manila two weeks ago of U.S. Senator Paul Laxalt. The Nevada Republican, who is a close friend of President Reagan’s, met with Marcos to relay Washington’s concerns about the growing Communist insurgency in the country. “There appears to be a go signal from Washington to Marcos to tighten the screws on protesters,” said Homobono Adaza, an opposition member of the Filipino National Assembly. At midweek Marcos warned that the police will take tougher measures against street protesters. The demonstrations against his rule, he told a group of visiting U.S. war veterans, were inspired by Communists.

The Manila violence was the second time in recent weeks that a demonstration had turned ugly. Last month 27 people were killed when security forces moved against a protest in the town of Escalante, 310 miles south of Manila. The violence was not only on the government’s side. Last week gunmen believed to be members of a Communist death squad assassinated Gregorio Murillo, the governor of Surigao del Sur province on Mindanao. Murillo, 58, was the highest civilian official killed by rebels this year.

State Department spokesmen maintain that Marcos is paying attention to U.S. warnings. They say that Marcos has responded to Laxalt’s visit with several announcements. Though none are new, they include a promise to increase the military budget by 39% and let U.S. observers be present for the 1986 and 1987 elections. Marcos also gave Laxalt two lengthy reports, one on the economy and the other on the military, to support his view that the insurgency is not as grave as the U.S. portrays. Said a State Department analyst: “We’ve got our own sources, and they indicate that the threat is far more serious than Marcos allows. Marcos has downplayed the threat.”

About the only encouraging sign for the U.S. was a slight show of flexibility from Marcos regarding the future of General Fabian C. Ver, the armed forces Chief of Staff, now on leave, who has been charged with complicity in the assassination of Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino two years ago. Laxalt reportedly warned Marcos that if he reinstates Ver, who is a cousin and close friend of the Philippine President’s, it could provide a “flashpoint” for further troubles. Marcos said he was obliged to keep his promise to reinstate Ver if he is acquitted, but a State Department official noted that “we think [Marcos] is looking for a way out.”

Meanwhile, prosecutors in the Aquino case last week for the first time named the soldier they believe shot Aquino. He was identified as Rogelio Moreno, a member of the Philippine Constabulary Metropolitan Command, known as Metrocom. The prosecutors claim that he shot Aquino from close range in the back of the head as soldiers escorted the opposition leader off the plane on which he had returned home. Moreno is among the 26 defendants who have been charged in Aquino’s assassination. The military has maintained that Aquino was shot by Rolando Galman, an alleged Communist agent, before Galman in turn was killed by security forces.