Aquino Fires Two More of Her Cabinet Ministers

President Corazon Aquino fired two more Cabinet ministers Friday in a continuing effort to purge her nine-month-old government of corruption and incompetence and appease dissident factions in the nation’s military and business communities.

The firing of the ministers of natural resources and public works, both veteran Filipino politicians who have been accused by local newspapers of corruption and patronage, did not entirely satisfy Aquino’s critics.

In her brief, nationally broadcast statement Friday night, Aquino failed to mention her far more controversial ministers of local governments and labor--both of whom have been openly criticized by military and business leaders as leftists who are hurting Aquino’s credibility and her economic recovery plans.

The president pledged, however, that more Cabinet changes are in store.

“The process of renewal will not stop there,” Aquino said. “Other changes will be announced shortly. We must work with the energy and coordination of a single hand in order to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves.”

Aquino regained many supporters from Manila’s business community and the nation’s Roman Catholic Church with the changes she did announce. She replaced Natural Resources Minister Ernesto Maceda, a close friend of Aquino’s slain husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., with Carlos Dominguez Jr., 41, the deputy minister of agriculture.

Aquino also replaced Public Works Minister Rogaciano Mercado with Vicente Jayme, 51, a soft-spoken but widely known and highly respected economist and president of the Philippine National Bank.

Both new ministers hold graduate degrees from prominent American universities--one from Harvard, the other Stanford. And both are considered impeccably honest, apolitical technocrats who will protect the interests of big business and the established Philippine oligarchy.

The leftist National Democratic Front did not react immediately to the changes.

Aquino also insisted in her speech that she has now “achieved a level of cooperation and dedication” from the nation’s 200,000-member military that did not exist before.

The dismissals came five days after Aquino fired controversial Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and demanded the resignations of all 25 of her Cabinet ministers, in moves she said were part of an attempt to make “a fresh start” for her crisis-ridden government.

Enrile’s ouster came after nearly two months of rumors that military factions loyal to him were plotting a military operation against the government to protect Aquino from the influence of Communist and leftist infiltrators in her Cabinet.

But Enrile’s firing deepened the divisions within the already politicized military and left thousands of Enrile loyalists embittered.

A few hours before Aquino’s announcement on Friday, a smiling and dignified Enrile made a graceful exit from his post of 16 years at a “turnover ceremony” in the same room where he staged the military revolt last February that helped bring Aquino to power.

Hinting that he will soon emerge from seclusion to lead the political opposition against Aquino, Enrile declared that he was leaving his post “without any regrets, without any rancor and without any recriminations.

“Let us leave the past behind and settle down to work for the nation. . . . So much is left to do.”

Several Manila newspapers reported Friday that Enrile will accept the leadership of the right-wing Nacionalista Party and campaign in legislative elections set for May 11.

Enrile wore a garland of sampaguitas, the Philippine national flower, as his former deputy minister draped a Legion of Honor medal awarded by President Aquino around his neck. The president’s citation stated that the 62-year-old Enrile “has won an eternal place in the history of our race.”

In his brief speech, Enrile said nothing against Aquino or military Chief of Staff Gen. Fidel V. Ramos. Ramos executed a swift and effective preemptive military operation last weekend to prevent a violent backlash from Enrile’s many supporters within the armed forces after his dismissal.

Enrile shook hands with Ramos during the ceremony. The two men shared jokes and smiles, as they had just nine months ago when they led the rebellion that drove Ferdinand E. Marcos into exile. At one point, Enrile and Ramos even embraced.

Enrile thanked Ramos and his armed forces for standing by him during the past several years, “even when the Defense Ministry was in crisis after crisis.” Enrile praised his replacement, 66-year-old career soldier and diplomat Rafael Ileto, as “a man of wisdom, a man of courage.” And he thanked the president for conferring the honorary degree of commander upon him.

Some of Enrile’s supporters in the jammed ministry social hall openly wept as he handed the large, maroon Defense Ministry flag to Ileto.

When the ceremony ended, though, many of the top generals who remained behind expressed disappointment over the president’s Cabinet moves Friday. Many criticized her for not acting first on the men they perceive as the most dangerous to the nation, Labor Minister Augusto Sanchez and Local Governments Minister Aquilino Pimentel. Both are seen by a majority in the armed forces as leftist sympathizers allied with the nation’s armed Communist insurgents.

The military leaders voiced praise for the moves the president did make, noting that both public works and natural resources are key ministries in the implementation of their plan to end the bloody, 17-year conflict through a joint military and political solution.