Defeated opposition candidate Corazon Aquino Sunday mapped out a siege-like strategy of general strikes, economic boycotts and nonviolent protests intended to bring down the government of President Ferdinand Marcos.
Even as Aquino spoke, however, Marcos took the first step in what appeared to be a concerted effort to head off growing criticism of his rule by projecting an image as a new, reform-minded president.
That step came at a press conference in which he announced he had accepted the resignation of his cousin and most trusted confidant, Gen. Fabian Ver, as chief of the armed forces.
Marcos said Ver would be replaced for the time being by Gen. Fidel Ramos, deputy chief of staff and a West Point graduate.
U.S. officials have been pressuring Marcos for months to get rid of Ver, who was acquitted last December on charges he conspired with 25 other soldiers and a civilian in the murder of Aquino`s husband, former senator and opposition leader Benigno Aquino.
In another development, reformist officers within the Philippine military issued a statement Monday urging their comrades to refuse to use force against Filipinos taking part in the nationwide civil disobedience campaign.
Marcos threatened Sunday to abrogate the military-bases treaty with the U.S. if the Reagan administration cuts off aid to his government.
”If that happens, we`ll have to talk about renegotiating the bases,”
Marcos said Sunday on CBS` interview program ”Face The Nation.”
It was ironic that Ver`s long-awaited resignation finally came at the very moment Cory Aquino reached a high point as successor to her husband, outlining to several hundred thousand followers a carefully calculated plan of action to bring down Marcos.
”My fellow Filipinos, let us act in organized unity,” Aquino told the crowd gathered in Luneta Park, alongside Manila Bay.
She spoke from the back of a flatbed truck that had been turned into a stage with a backdrop made from the still-marked chalkboards on which election returns had been tallied.
”Today, let us take our first organized step,” Aquino told the crowd.
”Today, we will make a beginning.”
Aquino then outlined a program of nonviolent civil disobedience designed to bring down Marcos, who on Saturday night was proclaimed winner of the fraud-tainted Feb. 7 presidential elections.
Among Aquino`s plans was the call for a general strike–she described it as a ”national day of prayer and nonviolent protest”–on the first working day after Marcos is sworn in to a new six-year term. The inauguration is set for Feb. 25.
Aquino seemed to be declaring war on several fronts against the already seriously troubled economy.
She called for a boycott of government-controlled television and newspapers and warned advertisers that unless they withdrew their ads from those media outlets she would call for a boycott of their products.
She also called for a boycott of the powerful San Miguel Corp., a food and beverage conglomerate headed by Eduardo Cojuangco, Aquino`s first cousin and a close friend of Marcos.
Aquino asked her supporters to delay paying their water and electricity bills as long as possible without getting service cut off in a bid to hamper the government`s cash flow.
Finally, Aquino said she would either buy commercial broadcast time or use the Roman Catholic radio station to deliver nightly addresses against the government; and she would use those broadcasts to outline further nonviolent protests.
”May God stay by our side in what we are about to do, what we have to do,” Aquino said, ending her address to wild applause and the now familiar chants of ”Cory! Cory! Cory!”
Aquino`s running mate, Salvador ”Doy” Laurel, told the crowd it would take several months to bring down the Marcos government.
”We will never concede the election,” Laurel said.
In the meantime, he said: ”We will not follow, we will not obey, we will not honor, we will not respect the orders of this unwanted regime.”
Marcos met Monday with U.S. special envoy Philip Habib, who arrived in Manila Saturday night on a mission for President Reagan, but officials gave no details of the meeting. Aquino was scheduled to meet with Habib later in the day.
Habib, as is his habit on presidential missions, has stayed away from the press and is working behind the scenes. He reportedly is carrying messages from Reagan for both Marcos and Aquino.
There had been speculation Aquino would refuse to meet Habib because of resentment about Reagan`s reluctance to condemn the elections, which even his own White House observers had described as ”disturbingly” tainted.
But Reagan issued a strong criticism of the elections on Saturday, and Aquino said Sunday she would meet with Habib.
”I will have to hear what he has to say,” Aquino said.
Aquino`s rally was billed as a ”People`s Victory Rally,” and it seemed like a celebration.
Hawkers peddled dried fish on skewers and hot mango juice in plastic pouches. Fireworks went off. Yellow balloons soared everywhere.
”Cory is our president,” was the slogan on many yellow shirts.
”Freedom, justice and democracy,” was another.
There were a few anti-U.S. posters, and several against Reagan.
”Reagan, support a nation, not just a one-man machine,” read one.
”Habib, take Marcos home,” read another.
All day long, Aquino, Laurel and other speakers repeated the call for protest, but only nonviolent protest. It was a theme that carried through to the last announcement of the day, when an Aquino aide told the crowd:
”Please go straight home and enjoy this evening with your family.”
