The Philippines: Taking Her Own Sweet Time

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She has been on the job for almost a month, but Philippine President Corazon Aquino is still proceeding carefully. Her deliberative approach was evident at the first full meeting of her Cabinet. The new President had been expected to take some forceful action during the session. But instead, after more than two hours, the only tangible result was that Aquino had formed three committees: one to study the question of declaring the Aquino administration a revolutionary government, another to tackle the reorganization of local government, and a third to chart new directions for the country's economy.

Aquino has been under pressure from some advisers to proclaim the new government revolutionary, a term that is not just descriptive but legally significant. Although Aquino was sworn in as President on Feb. 25, less than twelve hours before Ferdinand Marcos fled Manila, the National Assembly never formally recognized her as the winner of the Feb. 7 presidential election. As a result, Aquino technically presides over an illegal regime. By declaring her government revolutionary, she would free herself from Marcos' 1973 constitution. She could then dissolve the National Assembly and dismiss local officials loyal to the former President. The downside of the action is that it would leave Aquino open to charges that her government was nearly as authoritarian as the regime it replaced. Justice Minister Neptali Gonzales, who heads the committee studying the matter, is expected to recommend a course of action this week. He is known to favor the revolutionary route.

Aquino's consensus-building style was also apparent during a trip to Camp Aguinaldo, the military compound that serves as headquarters for the armed forces. There she met with about three dozen disgruntled lieutenant colonels in the air force. They complained that Aquino, who had promised to do away with military patronage, had arbitrarily promoted one of their less senior colleagues, Adelberto Yap, to full colonel status ahead of them. The President reportedly attempted to assuage the officers' feelings and agreed to study the issue of Yap's promotion.

Much of Aquino's time, however, was taken up trying to trace the Marcos fortune. Jovito Salonga, head of the Good Government Commission, charged with recouping Marcos' hidden wealth, has estimated the deposed leader's assets at between $5 billion and $10 billion. Some $800 million is located in a Swiss bank account. Approximately $350 million more is apparently tied up in five New York properties, including Manhattan's Crown Building and Lindenmere, a Long Island estate. In Texas, Marcos allegedly controls $13 million worth of property in Tarrant County, and has parcels of land valued at $19.2 million in Corpus Christi. It appears that there may also be as many as 200 properties in California owned by Marcos' associates and cronies, including houses in San Francisco and land in San Diego, as well as 30 holdings valued at $8 million in Los Angeles County that are owned by either Marcos' sister Fortuna Barba or by his former mistress Dovie Beams de Villagran.