In Land of Guns and Politics, Philippine Military Prepares for Election

“This is a militarized zone,” Jose Feliciano said, waving a hand at the rude barrio shacks in the hometown of the late opposition leader, Benigno S. Aquino Jr.

Feliciano, 70, heads the presidential campaign of Aquino’s widow, Corazon, here in Tarlac province. He shook his head, chuckled and said: “I am too old to be afraid, but the people are terrified.”

He said that about 50 men, members of the government-sponsored Civilian Home Defense Forces, uniformed and carrying rifles, drive through the pro-Aquino barrios at night.

‘It’s Intimidation’

“They just show themselves,” he said. “They make no direct threats. They just let the people know they’re there. It’s intimidation.”

Guns and politics go together in the Philippines. Double-digit death tolls have been common in election campaigns. But until President Ferdinand E. Marcos declared martial law in 1972, the armed forces of the Philippines were relatively untarnished by political violence.

Now, 14 years later, there is a new word in the Philippine lexicon: salvaging, an execution-style killing attributed to the military.

Credibility a Factor

With credibility a prime factor in determining whether the outcome of the Feb. 7 election is popularly accepted--no matter who wins--the armed forces face a double responsibility: They must safeguard the voters without influencing them.

Marcos says the responsibility for maintaining order rests with Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, vice chief of staff and commander of the Philippine Constabulary (the rural law enforcement agency) and the National Police, which have been deputized by the nation’s elections commission to guard the polls.

Marcos has ordered the regular troops confined to barracks on election day, along with the Civilian Home Defense Forces.

The election code calls for disarming the Home Defense Forces during the election, but Ramos and the election commission chairman, Victorino Savellano, said there will probably be exceptions.

‘Hot Spots’ Identified

Ramos said he expects the Communist-led New People’s Army to try to disrupt the voting, and he identified a number of “hot spots” on the islands of Luzon and Mindanao.

Of the Home Defense Forces units in these areas, he said: “What do you want us to do, get their guns? They also have to defend themselves, their families and communities.”

But he has ordered the confiscation of Home Defense Forces guns in Feliciano’s area in Tarlac, where a Home Defense Forces bodyguard of a pro-Marcos mayor has been accused in two political killings.

Policemen and members of the Constabulary will be armed on election day but will be forbidden to come within 50 yards of any polling place.

‘We’ll Be Around’

According to Brig. Gen. Eduardo Ermita, head of the armed forces’ civil relations service, the troops in barracks will be on “red alert.” Gen. Ramos put it more simply: “We’ll be around.” Ermita said this is normal procedure, not designed to polish the image of the regulars.

In his office at Manila’s Camp Aguinaldo, Ermita scoffed at charges that the army’s image has been tarnished in recent years, but he conceded that there have been problems.

“We have elderly, retired generals who ask us why things aren’t like they were in the good old days,” Ermita said. “We tell them: ‘During your time there were only 50,000 men in the armed forces (now nearly 200,000, including the police), there was no New People’s Army, the population was smaller and the economy was better.’ ”

Professionalism Urged

A reform movement within the military talks of the need for more professionalism, a quality attributed to the premartial law armed forces.

“Before 1972,” a cabdriver in Pampanga province recalled, “there were a few rotten cops, but the soldiers weren’t bad. With martial law, it was the other way around. Troops put up roadblocks looking for subversives, but everybody was hassled by them.”

The armed forces, trained to fight external enemies, became under martial law an instrument of suppression of civil strife, and they have continued that role against insurgency.

Removal of ‘Bootlickers’

The reform movement has also called for removal or retirement of what it calls “bootlickers.” This issue centers on the extension of active duty of general officers beyond their retirement date. About a fourth of the armed forces’ 100 or so general officers are “overstaying” on the orders of Marcos.

“Frankly, most of them have been extended because of their personal loyalty to the president,” one officer conceded.

Gen. Fabian C. Ver, the armed forces chief of staff since 1981, falls into this category. He is a cousin and confidant of the president and a native of Ilocos Norte, Marcos’ home province.

Last year, Ver and 24 other military men were tried and acquitted in the 1983 assassination of opposition leader Aquino. The same day, the verdict was reached, Ver, who had taken voluntary leave, was reinstated.

Abuses Spotlighted

The Aquino trial put a spotlight on alleged abuses by the military, and Marcos has suggested that Ver would be retired, but he has since waffled on the subject. In a political campaign, political analysts here say, Marcos wants Ver at his side.

Civilian officials, particularly in the provinces, have come to see the military as a political ally and, in some cases, an enforcer. The relationship is particularly important at election time. The deployment of troops can intimidate voters or bar them from the polls.

“We in the military, in all candor, won’t act without orders,” Gen. Ermita said. “You could not hide this from the people, and we want free and credible elections. When you have a sergeant or company commander who tries something like that, they’re on their own lookout. They’ll be reported.”

Coup Possible

The ultimate military interference in politics would be a coup d’etat. Speculation on such a possibility is constant, and Marcos himself has brought it up. If Aquino wins and puts Communists in her Cabinet--she denies she would do this--there could be a coup, Marcos said at a recent press conference.

“This,” he said, “is one of the usual consequences of bringing Communists into government.”

Most speculation about a coup centers on the possibility of a Marcos loss and his reinstatement by loyal officers. There has never been a coup in the Philippines, but the armed forces have never been so politicized as they are now.

Marcos, the commander in chief, identifies with the military. On the campaign trail, he often reminisces about his experience as a young officer in World War II.

At a recent rally on the island of Negros, Marcos said the opposition was saying that he would not make the long trip from Manila, that he was too ill. He admitted he has some disabilities--from war wounds, he says--but he came anyway.

“I am your old soldier,” the president told the crowd.