Aquino Abolishes Assembly, Issues Interim Constitution : Vows Respect for Rights in ‘Swift, Safe Journey’

President Corazon Aquino abolished the National Assembly today and formed a provisional government with an interim “Freedom Constitution” granting her eight months of sweeping emergency powers.

The declaration, which had been expected since shortly after the new government assumed power late in February, gives Aquino wide authority to dismantle the structure used by Ferdinand E. Marcos to maintain his 20-year grip on the Philippines.

It drew immediate fire from lawmakers once loyal to Marcos. A former Marcos Cabinet minister said that Aquino has assumed “the powers of a dictator” and that he will convene the National Assembly in defiance of the edict.

Aquino, in a nationally televised address a month after she was swept to power in a civilian-backed military revolt, refrained from using the term revolutionary in announcing her provisional government.

Cites Campaign Pledge

“My whole campaign was based on my pledge to restore a respect for human rights and to create democratic institutions which would guarantee genuine popular representation,” Aquino said.

“My announcement today is a major step toward the fulfillment of that pledge,” Aquino said. “With the Freedom Constitution as our vessel, I believe the journey can be a swift and safe one.”

Aquino, 53, said she hopes that elections for a new legislature can be held in a year. She abolished the 1973 constitution that Marcos used to maintain a tight grip on the Philippine legislature and judiciary.

She said that within 60 days she will appoint a commission composed of 30 to 50 Filipinos “known for their independence, nationalism and patriotism” to draft a new constitution within 90 days and submit it to a plebiscite after that to be held within 60 days.

Sees 8-Month Process

Justice Minister Neptali Gonzales later told reporters that the whole process of creating the constitution will take eight months. He said Aquino’s emergency powers will end upon establishment of a new constitution.

Referring to the National Assembly, in which Marcos supporters held two-thirds of the seats, Aquino said, “If political power is to be returned to its proper limits and our society cleansed of the crime and repression of recent years, we must cut out the cancer in our political system.”

Lawmakers threatened to defy Aquino’s move to abolish the assembly. Blas Ople, who served as labor minister under Marcos, said that Aquino has assumed “the powers of a dictator” and that he will invite arrest by convening the assembly to pass laws.

Ople Tells Rationale

Ople said that if he did not resist Aquino’s order, he would be consenting “supinely to (the assembly’s) extinction as a co-equal branch of government.”

Aquino said a campaign pledge to work with the assembly was “thrown back” when legislators from Marcos party cheated her of victory in the fraud-tainted Feb. 7 presidential election. The proclamation issued by Aquino asserted that the new government “was installed through a direct exercise of the power of the Filipino people assisted by units of the new armed forces of the Philippines.