FIFTEEN DAYS after dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier took flight from Haiti, Ferdinand Marcos had to flee ignominiously from the Philippines. US helicopters had to come to rescue him, together with his entourage, so that he could escape from the presidential palace, which was surrounded by the insurgent population.
After huge and continual mobilisations, sometimes of a million people, Manila was in fact, and had been for several days, occupied by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators. They were determined not to give up before achieving the departure of the man who had thought himself master of the country for 20 years. Growing numbers of soldiers showed no will to break up these mobilisations, and even a readiness to join the crowds themselves.
We owe the overthrow of Marcos in the first place to an extraordinary popular and democratic mobilisation. Without this, the moderate opposition would have remained powerless, the White House would not have let its protege fall, and the officer corps would not have become divided as it did.
For the last few years, growing sectors of US imperialism, of Philippine big business and the middle class, and of the Catholic hierarchy in the country had sought an orderly transition towards a regime that would more adequately serve their interests.
The political instability of the Marcos regime accelerated after the assassination of opposition leader, Benigno Aquino in August 1983. The system of power established by Marcos under martial law was undermined by a deep economic and social crisis. The pro-imperialist elite in the Philippines was more and more deeply divided.
A popular mass movement of workers, urban poor and peasants came into mounting conflict with the regime. The revolutionary left and the guerrilla forces led by the Communist Party of the Philippines — the New People's Army — experienced rapid growth.
In the eyes of imperialism, it was vital to reunify the ruling elite and reform the army officer corps — which was corrupt and hated by the population — in order more effectively to combat the upsurge in the democratic and anti-imperialist struggle. It was all the more vital because of the key strategical importance of this Southeast Asian archipeloago, which houses the two main US bases abroad — Subic Bay and Clark Air Base.
This policy was a failure. Marcos rejected any meaningful compromise. The US administration was not able to overcome its internal divisions. The February 7, 1986, elections, which were supposed finally to create the conditions for a restabilisation of the regime and the start of an orderly transition, led to a face-to-face confrontation between the Marcos regime and the opposition forces.
It was thus in a situation of a major, open political crisis that the departure of Marcos came to be seen — in Washington and in Manila — as the only solution.
The overthrow of the dictator is a victory won by the Filipino people. It opens up a new stage of political life there. But the current government will try to deny the Filipino people the fruits of this victory.
Around the charismatic personality of Corazon Aquino, new president of the Philippines, there is a bloc of conservative forces that is reflected in the composition of the new government. Won over at the last minute, Juan Ponce Enrile, who was the moving spirit in the martial law policy, is again minister of defence.
Jaime Ongpin, new finance minister, president of the Benguet Mining Corporation, is one of the main spokespersons of the business world. Salvador Laurel — vice president, prime minister and minister for foreign affairs — was a longtime ally of Marcos and represents UNIDO, a conservative political formation linked to the landowning oligarchy. Many presidential advisors are Jesuit priests, advocates of reform but deeply anti-Communist.
As for General Fidel V. Ramos, chief of staff of the armed forces, he is well known for his links with Washington and the Pentagon. The role of a few personalities known for their defence of human rights can only, in these conditions, be seen as marginal.
US imperialism, strengthened by the pro-imperialist character of the new regime and the support of the powerful Catholic hierarchy, will do anything to restabilise its domination over the country.
The democratic and anti-imperialist movement is thus going to have to continue to organise and struggle for its aims. The Philippine army is divided. The policy of President Reagan — which supported Marcos right up to the eleventh hour — has awakened a deep nationalist feeling in the Philippines against the longstanding colonial power.
The population has experienced what its strength is when the masses mobilise. Marginalized during the election period and the weeks that followed the February 7 elections, the popular forces of the left and revolutionaries remain deeply rooted. The economic and social crisis requires a mass struggle independent of government.
The democratic and anti-imperialist struggle continues. The Fourth International reaffirms its support for the popular, democratic, anti-imperialist and revolutionary forces in the Philippines. Alongside the Filipino people, we demand the immediate and unconditional release of all the political prisoners — without any exceptions — who have courageously fought against the dictator Marcos; the repeal of all anti-strike laws and decrees; the recognition of independent trade-unions; the dismantling of the repressive apparatus and the various landlords' private armies in the countryside; the bringing to justice of those responsible for torture and summary executions; the reestablishment of all democratic freedoms; and the removal of the massive US air and naval bases from the Philippines.
February 28, 1986