The Philippines Rebelling Against Marcos

The mood was tense as the two men, clad in olive and gray and blinking into the glare of television lights, took their seats before a cluster of microphones in a social hall of the Philippine Ministry of Defense at Camp Aguinaldo. Behind them huddled about a dozen soldiers, some in full battle regalia. Outside, at the gates of the ministry, less than five miles from Malacanang Palace, the presidential residence in downtown Manila, heavily armed guards and tanks stood at the ready. When the two men began to speak, the reason for the precautions became startlingly clear, for they were proclaiming open rebellion against the 20-year regime of President Ferdinand Marcos.

Lieut. General Fidel Ramos, Vice Chief of the armed forces, and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile announced that they were breaking with the unregenerate Marcos and called for his immediate resignation. Marcos, Enrile said, had committed fraud in the Feb. 7 special election, and should step down "while there is still time." Declared Ramos: "The time has come to reverse the situation."

By evening, Marcos, looking tired and shaken, held his own press conference. The President charged Ramos and Enrile with treason and called on them to "stop this stupidity and surrender." He then accused the pair of taking part in a plot to assassinate him and his wife Imelda. To prove that the conspiracy was real, Marcos trotted out one of the First Lady's personal bodyguards, who "confessed" before reporters that he was to have played a role in the murder. Later, Enrile angrily dismissed the conspiracy charge as "a bunch of bull."

Even as Marcos spoke, thousands of Filipinos streamed into the darkened streets, marching toward Camp Aguinaldo on the outskirts of Manila. The demonstrators, many of them carrying candles, were jubilant as they gathered outside the gates. "Cory! Cory!" they chanted, invoking the nickname of Opposition Leader Corazon Aquino, the slight, bespectacled widow of slain former Senator Benigno ("Ninoy") Aquino, who had challenged Marcos for the presidency and lost in an election tainted by ballot stealing and bloodshed. Aquino was leading a rally in the central Philippine city of Cebu when the uprising occurred at Camp Aguinaldo. Supporters, fearful for her safety, promptly whisked her into hiding.

As the crisis unfolded, the Marcos regime seemed in danger of unraveling. Jaime Cardinal Sin, who had recently thrown the weight of the Roman Catholic Church against Marcos, lost no time backing the renegade military leaders. "Our two good friends have shown their idealism," Sin told listeners over Radio Veritas. "I would be very happy if you could support them now." The station, owned and operated by the church, broadcast the names of prominent Marcos officials who, emboldened by Ramos and Enrile, announced their resignations. Among them: Postmaster General Rogelio Golez and General Ramon Farolan, the Philippine Customs Commissioner. "I don't think the government can function," said one high-ranking Marcos aide. "It's a very tenuous situation."