September 18, 1997, Seattle Times / Chicago Tribune, Filipinos To Rally Against President Eyeing A Second Term, by Uli Schmetzer,

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September 18, 1997, Seattle Times / Chicago Tribune, Filipinos To Rally Against President Eyeing A Second Term, by Uli Schmetzer,

MANILA - Every weeknight at 6 o'clock, the capital of the Philippines bursts into a cacophony of tolling church bells and honking car horns, symbols of both Roman Catholic power and popular panic of another dictatorship in the making.

Behind this five-minute protest - against efforts to change the decade-old constitution and give President Fidel Ramos the chance to stand for a second term - is not only the rift between church and state, between democracy and Asian autocratic ambitions, but also the old battle between those who want power and those who refuse to hand it over.

The people who blow their horns are not necessarily anti-Ramos but have been frightened into believing that a recent spate of bomb attacks and bomb hoaxes may be the prelude to the kind of disorders that allowed Ferdinand Marcos to declare martial law in 1972 and turn his presidency into a military dictatorship.

Cardinal Jaime Sin has called on his Roman Catholic flock - which makes up 85 percent of the 70 million Filipinos - to stage a massive anti-amendment rally on Sunday similar to the People's Power demonstrations he invoked in 1986. That display of popular sentiment ousted the Marcos regime and swept the movement's heroine, Corazon Aquino, into the presidency.

Aquino, who restored democracy, has already pledged to join the new crusade against the threat of another dictatorship.

The feud has pitted four people, who are instrumental in bringing down Marcos, against one another. The cardinal and Aquino are now on the side opposing charter changes, while Ramos and Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile stand for the changes.

Ramos was domestic-security chief in the Marcos regime and Enrile the defense minister. Both turned against their boss as the popular tide turned.

In 1992, Aquino endorsed Ramos as her successor. He is credited with saving her from four coup attempts by using his influence to pacify rebellious troops.

Last weekend, the restless armed forces poured fuel on the image of a country facing imminent doom when Gen. Arnulfo Acedera boasted that his troops had a martial-law contingency plan that could be implemented in 24 hours.

The general, recently appointed chief of the armed forces by Ramos, warned the public to stay away from Sunday's rally because "militant leftist elements" are expected to make trouble, the usual military euphemism for alleged terrorist attacks by Muslim, communist and fascist extremists.

The threat triggered an avalanche of protests. The media saw the specter of working under censorship, politicians the menace of being muzzled, the communists a new military witch hunt, and businessmen feared turmoil would scare off investors.

Just as puzzling for Filipinos was the parting shot of their president as he took off on a 10-day trip to eastern Europe and the Middle East from which he will return tomorrow. "We must batten down the hatches," Ramos quipped at the airport.

As he flew off to his first stop in Moscow, the president left behind a nation whose peso currency has dropped 14 percent since July while its stock market dropped 26 percent over the same period.

The steady downward drift has been ascribed to the political uncertainty over whether Ramos will seek another term.

Political analysts say they believe Ramos was sure he could garner sufficient support to change the constitution and allow himself a second term. But he vacillated, saying yes, he would push for the constitutional amendment and then saying no, he would not seek a second term. Finally this month he stated: "I will keep my options open."

What the president apparently failed to appreciate was the depth of opposition led by some 12 candidates who seek the presidency and power for their followers in next May's election. Also, the Catholic Church has always been critical of the country's first Protestant president, particularly after he tried to curb runaway population growth through family-planning projects.

In an attempt to build emotions in the runup to Sunday's rally, Sin ordered church bells to ring for two weeks and motorists to blare their horns at 6 in the evening.

"Let the silent majority make noise now and make public their disgust with this self-serving move," he wrote in an open letter to his flock.

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Saved by stevenwarran

on Jan 10, 13