White House: Keen watch on RP events
WASHINGTON (AFP) — The White House was “watching closely” the situation in the Philippines where top military leaders broke yesterday with President Ferdinand Marcos, but an official spokesman said there was “no comment at this time.”
Meanwhile, Representative Stephen Solarz, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on East Asia, said the break announced yesterday by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and acting Armed Forces Chief Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos “obviously could be the beginning of the end of the Marcos regime”.
Solarz, a constant critic of Mr. Marcos, said he hoped the military leaders would try to install Opposition leader Corazon Aquino in the presidency, rather than run the country by themselves.
“It would be a tragedy if a civilian dictatorship was replaced by a military dictatorship. I hope this crisis can be resolved without bloodshed and a civil war,” Solarz said.
He said he believed Enrile and Lt. Gen. Ramos “were obviously unhappy” with what had happened after the Feb. 7 election, in which both Marcos and Ms. Aquino proclaimed victory and accused each other of widespread fraud.
“I think they believed that Marcos was preparing to act against them, it looks like they made a preemptive move,” Solarz said.
In Boston, Massachusetts, Democratic Sen. John Kerry, a member of the U.S. observer delegation at the Philippine election, said the move by Enrile and Lt. Gen. Ramos “was not a total surprise”.
“There were clear indications of unrest within the military ranks before we left Manila”, he said.
“There’s no question” that Ms. Aquino is “the rightful elected President in the Philippines”, Kerry said, adding: “hopefully, Marcos will come to see the writing on the wall and there will be a peaceful transition of power.”
Before news of the military move in Manila, the Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a conservative leader joined the chorus of voices asking President Ronald Reagan to try to convince Marcos to resign.
Sen. David Durenberger, a Minnesota-Republican, said yesterday that “as a longtime friend” of the Philippine President, Reagan “is the only person who may be able to persuade Marcos that it is time to step aside”.
