Aquino Echoes Enrile, Hardens Stand on Rebels

Signaling a shift in policy, President Corazon Aquino said Wednesday that she will soon issue “a declaration of war” on Communist insurgents, apparently heading off a threatened coup by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile.

In a speech delivered 12 hours after meeting with Enrile--she referred to the meeting as “my own peace talks”--Aquino promised to fix a deadline beyond which she will substitute military force for her current effort to negotiate a peaceful solution to the civil war.

“Any attack on centers of government by the insurgents will merely accelerate the deadline,” she said.

‘Foreign Ideology’

For the first time since she assumed the presidency on Feb. 25, Aquino referred to the Communists’ philosophy as a “foreign ideology whose chief merit is the more efficient enslavement of the people.” She also spoke for the first time of “abuses by the rebels.”

The president’s rhetoric and new policy echoed statements and demands by Enrile, who for several weeks has been criticizing Aquino’s handling of the Communist insurgency and lining up military support in what appeared to be preparations for a coup.

The Aquino speech made it clear that the rift was assuming crisis proportions. This was borne out by intelligence sources who said that Aquino’s security staff was taking unprecedented precautions around the presidential palace and key government installations.

Commanders Committed

These sources also confirmed reports that many powerful military commanders had committed themselves to Enrile.

The rift between Aquino and Enrile, which threatened to tear apart the coalition they formed after ousting Ferdinand E. Marcos, appeared to have been papered over, at least temporarily, by their two-hour meeting Tuesday night.

But sources close to Enrile said he was not entirely happy with the results of the meeting, at which he reportedly urged Aquino to fire several Cabinet ministers, among them Labor Minister Augusto Sanchez and Minister of Local Governments Aquilino Pimentel.

The meeting lasted until midnight. Present in addition to Aquino and Enrile were Vice President Salvador Laurel, who has also been threatening to split with Aquino, two other Cabinet members and Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, military chief of staff.

Minimizes Discord

“There is no falling out between Minister Enrile and myself,” Aquino said in her speech, and the remark was applauded by a group of businessmen and prominent women who had been invited to lunch.

Referring to Enrile as “Johnny,” his nickname, she said: “Many differences remain. . . . Our styles will continue to differ. We are different people struck from different molds that were created out of radically different experiences. But we are first Filipinos and committed to democracy.”

Enrile attended Wednesday’s regular Cabinet session, and several members later described him as “relaxed,” “jovial” and “participating more than ever before.”

“He made the point that he is part of the family,” said Heherson Alvarez, the minister for agrarian reform and one of four ministers who has called on Enrile to resign.

Teodoro Locsin Jr., an Aquino speech writer and close personal aide, said the policy outlined in the speech was not a sign that Aquino had “caved in” to the demands of Enrile. He said much of the speech had been written more than a week earlier and that many Cabinet ministers had been pressing for a harder line toward the Communists.

“It was just a result of her growing impatience with the peace talks,” Locsin said.

Denies Policy Shift

And in a question period after her speech, Aquino insisted that the new policy has nothing to do with Enrile’s demands.

“There is no shift,” she said. “I’ve always said that if our peace efforts do not receive the kind of response we are looking for . . . we will be ready to face the enemy if they persist in fighting this government.”

But some political analysts and Western diplomats said the speech represented a clear victory for Enrile, who has made it known that he is angry and hurt because Aquino’s inner circle has usurped many of the powers traditionally vested in the Ministry of Defense. Enrile has been demanding that Aquino unleash the military against the insurgents.

“Without firing a single shot or even picking up a gun, Enrile has managed to shift the entire government to the right,” a diplomatic observer said. “And now, both he and Aquino know he can do it again.”

In explaining the rift that led to Wednesday’s climax, a Cabinet minister who asked not to be further identified said of Enrile: “His power has been chipped away little by little. All he had left is his Defense Ministry--just paper pushing.”

Conservative Trend Seen

But this minister also referred to a “growing conservative trend in Philippine society, which would have shifted government policy to the right anyway.”

Perhaps in anticipation of that shift, Enrile had translated his anger into action. Reporters traveling with him on a three-day trip to the southern and central provinces last weekend looked on as Enrile apparently enlisted the support of some regional military commanders and gathered political support for himself and his anti-Communist cause.

Even Ramos, who, as chief of staff played a key role in convening the Tuesday night meeting, conceded at a military command conference in Manila earlier Tuesday that the growing political crisis had shaken the nation’s 200,000-man armed forces.

Referring to Enrile’s moves as “the recent turn of events,” Ramos warned the 12 regional commanders not to engage in partisan politics.

“Those who wish to enter politics will have to get out of the service,” Ramos said. “It is only through unity and impartiality that the organization can effectively fulfill and accomplish its mandated missions.”

When the conference ended, the commanders visited Aquino at the presidential palace and gave her a statement swearing allegiance to her government and condemning “the divisive forces” at work in the country.

Accord May Fade

Despite all the signs that the rift between Aquino and Enrile has been mended, few analysts are willing to say that the two leaders have agreed to a permanent resolution of their conflict.

“So far, it’s just a cease-fire, just words,” said a member of Enrile’s elite internal security group--a team of several hundred soldiers who for the past eight months have been training in urban counterterror tactics. “Let’s see what happens in the implementation.”

And a senior Western diplomat said Aquino’s speech was “nothing radical.” He said it will become significant only if Aquino takes concrete steps to enforce the new policy.

There is also lingering animosity in the military over the method by which Aquino has been appointing generals--reportedly on the basis of personal loyalty rather than merit--and many of Enrile’s recent complaints were not addressed in Aquino’s speech Wednesday.

The president did agree to review the list of hundreds of local governors and mayors that she appointed after firing the officials who had served under Marcos. Corrupt and blatantly leftist appointees will be summarily fired, Aquino vowed, apparently in answer to Enrile and Ramos, who have criticized the mass dismissals.