Cory to FM: Step down to avoid bloodshed
CEBU CITY, Feb. 23 – In the wake of the defection of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Deputy Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, Cory Aquino this morning asked Ferdinand Marcos “to step down in order to avoid bloodshed.”
In a statement read for her by Opposition MPs Aquilino Pimentel and Ramon Mitra at the Magellan hotel, where local and foreign newsmen were awaiting all evening, Cory said she is asking Marcos to respect the wishes of the people.
The Opposition leader kept close track of developments in Manila in undisclosed place in Cebu City.
Sources in her camp said that after monitoring the statements of the two defecting officials, Cory said she was satisfied that they were motivated by the wish to follow the mandate of the people.
Earlier, Cory had talked to Minister Enrile by long distance at Camp Aguinaldo, assuring him and Ramos of her support and prayer.
Also last night, U.S. Consul General Blaine Porter in Cebu had gone to see her, presumably over what was happening in Manila. Details of their conversation were not disclosed.
Cory received the news of the defection and the campout of the two around 6:30 last night with typical calm and composure.
Cory’s trip to Davao City this morning was cancelled and her leaders would not say when she would leave Cebu for Manila.
Ms. Aquino yesterday went into hiding in this central Philippine city after being tipped of that she was to be arrested after speaking with Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, a spokesman said.
Ms. Aquino has said President Ferdinand Marcos used fraud and coercion to cheat her of victory in the Feb. 7 presidential election.
Opposition MP Homobono Adaza, who accompanied Ms. Aquino on a sortie were ,to promote her call for ,an non-violent campaign to oust Marcos, told reporters steps had been taken to keep Ms. Aquino safe after she had been told she would be arrested.
Adaza himself cut short the news conference after getting a tipoff that he would be jailed along with other Opposition MPs.
A brother-in-law of Ms. Aquino said Enrile had reached her by telephone in Cebu today, but she refused to immediately issue a statement since her advisers said it could ,be ‘‘strictly a military matter.”
“I would imagine Cory Aquino would be pleased by what is happening because the statement of Minister Enrile and Lt.Gen. Ramos says that there was cheating and fraud in the election and that both of them are supporting Cory,” he said, using the name by which Ms. Aquino is popularly known.
He said a planned trip to the southern city of Davao today had been postponed.
