A New Show Becomes a Replay

By Spencer Davidson

Strong but frustrated, the opposition faces Marcos in parliament

It had been conceived, by the government at least, as an occasion for President Ferdinand Marcos to show his dedication to the democratic process. After nine years of martial law came to an end in 1981, a permanent national assembly was set up to replace the rubber-stamp legislature that had existed since 1978. In May, opposition candidates unexpectedly won 63 of the new assembly's 183 seats in elections that were relatively free of corruption. Last week the assembly held its first session, to choose officers and then hear the President's state of the nation address.

Hours before the assembly opened, columns of anti-Marcos demonstrators took to the streets. They were led by Agapito ("Butz") Aquino, brother of former Senator Benigno Aquino, the dynamic opposition leader who was shot to death last August as he returned to Manila after three years in exile. The protesters were determined to accompany anti-Marcos assemblymen into the chamber, but Aquino and his followers were repulsed by some 2,000 military police. The marchers regrouped in Manila's Bonifacio Plaza, where a five-hour confrontation with security forces ended in clouds of tear gas with dozens injured.

The violent clashes shattered Marcos' attempt to establish an atmosphere of calm. In a conciliatory speech to the assembly, Marcos promised that martial law would not be reintroduced. Under Amendment Six to the Constitution, the President can bypass the assembly in making crucial decisions during a state of national emergency. The President pointedly warned opposition assemblymen that the country faced a threat of armed insurrection from the outlawed Communist New People's Army. For weeks, defense forces have been waging widely publicized raids on N.P.A. strongholds in the countryside, partly to create public support for the government; Marcos was photographed during one operation wearing fatigues with a pistol strapped to his belt.

Marcos conceded that the economy has deteriorated so badly that the country could only expect to "feel greater pressure and difficulties as our programs ... set in." Inflation is running at 50% a year, and the government is desperately seeking to restructure a $25.6 billion foreign debt. Banco Filipino, the nation's largest savings institution, was forced to call on troops last week to hold back angry depositors who were demanding that they be allowed to withdraw their money from one of its branches. In addition, 35% of the work force is now unemployed, though the government insists that the figure is 5% to 6%. In recent months alone, there have been 250,000 new layoffs.

"Let us suspend petty political quarrels, petty nitpicking and faultfinding and join hands to save the nation," declared Marcos. He offered a ten-point program for economic recovery that includes new curbs on public spending and closer cooperation between the government and the private sector.

Opposition leaders were unmoved by Marcos' plea for political harmony. Last May they split over the issue of an election boycott but, led by Butz Aquino, quickly vowed to join forces. Acknowledging the odds against them, one anti-Marcos assemblyman declared: "If we fail, we will try and try again."-- By Spencer Davidson. Reported by Nelly Sindayen/Manila

With reporting by Nelly Sindayen