Ramos Battered in Role as Philippine Unifier

When Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, the armed forces chief of staff, arrived at a military training camp here the other day, he was confronted by scores of reporters calling on him to respond to the morning’s headlines.

“Pressure Mounts to Oust Ramos--Weak Leadership Cited,” a headline in the Manila Chronicle said.

Ramos smiled and told the reporters: “Later, later. We’ll talk about it later. Today we will be taking part in some target shooting. Some of us will be doing the shooting, and some of us will be the targets. . . . It may as well be me. I’m always the target.”

Despite his offhand manner at the military camp Tuesday, Ramos was clearly aware that his position as unifying force in the military is being threatened as never before. A year after he became a national hero by helping to overthrow President Ferdinand E. Marcos, he is on the ropes, challenged by forces in and out of government--and in the military as well.

The Man in the Middle

In the struggle for political power, Ramos has been the man in the middle, and he has made as many friends as enemies. He has headed off at least two attempts to bring down the government of President Corazon Aquino, has helped to oust Juan Ponce Enrile as minister of defense, has tried to lead the propaganda war against a Communist rebellion and has struggled to use the military to maintain a measure of stability in one of the stormiest years in modern Philippine history.

In the process, Ramos has incurred the wrath of politicians still loyal to Marcos and of senior officers still loyal to Enrile. Leaders on the extreme left have accused Ramos of being a neo-fascist, and left-leaning members of the Aquino Cabinet have begun to raise questions about his loyalty.

On Monday, Ramos was attacked in a “secret” report said to have been delivered to President Aquino by what the Manila Chronicle called “a responsible intelligence agency.” It referred to Ramos as “weak and vacillating” and said that he had outlived his usefulness to the president and that there was a groundswell of sentiment in the military for a change in the top command.

The newspaper’s editor in chief, Amando Doronila, who only two months ago had called Ramos the cornerstone of stability in the armed forces and the nation, published this report Tuesday and followed it up Wednesday with an article headlined “Dump-Ramos Campaign Splitting the Military.”

Retired General Quoted

Doronila did not identify the source of the so-called intelligence report. Other sources told The Times that it originated within Aquino’s civilian intelligence agency, which is headed by a retired Philippine army general.

The Chronicle quoted a retired general named Jesus Vargas as saying Ramos demonstrated weakness two weeks ago in his handling of an uprising by troops loyal to Marcos.

The rebel troops held out at a Manila television station for more than 48 hours while Ramos delayed carrying out an Aquino order to attack and, at the same time, failed to persuade the rebellious soldiers to give up. The siege ended without bloodshed. The rebels have yet to be punished.

At the camp here Tuesday, Ramos sat down with reporters and spent nearly half an hour defending his record over the past year.

He said he had dealt with the military uprising “with two things in mind--first to prevent bloodshed and violence, and secondly to maintain the operational capability of the armed forces . . . so that we could successfully counter the armed threats around us.”

Ramos aides said this was an admission that there are deep divisions in the military. Ordering soldiers to kill other soldiers, they said, would have exacerbated these divisions and pushed men to the breaking point.

‘Disgruntled Elements’

Ramos condemned people in the military who, according to his aides, have been giving the press information aimed at discrediting him. He described these people as “disgruntled elements . . . who cannot really adhere to or comply with simple standards of discipline, such as reporting (for) their assigned duties.”

He said they “would rather look for positions of privilege and influence which are really beyond their level or rank or authority or experience.”

Still, he said, factionalism in the military “is merely a reflection of the factionalism that exists in our whole society today.”

Ramos said he serves “at the pleasure of the civilian authorities, especially the commander in chief.” And there is no firm indication from the presidential palace that Aquino, who has publicly praised him on many occasions, has any intention of removing him. She went out of her way Wednesday to deny the reports that he is in danger of being dismissed. She defended him as an effective leader and said, “He’ll stay until the end of his term,” in 1989.

According to several Cabinet ministers, who asked not to be quoted by name, Ramos is not only enormously popular with the Philippine people but is the only officer capable of controlling the military.

Rightists Blame Left

Leaders of the rightist opposition say the spate of anti-Ramos publicity is the work of left-leaning members of the Cabinet. One of them, Homobono Adaza, who has aligned himself with Enrile, said, “It is the Cory (Aquino) Communists who are behind this.”

Military supporters of Enrile, the former minister of defense, have also been attempting to discredit Ramos, telling reporters that Ramos engaged in corrupt practices while he was deputy chief of staff under Marcos, and calling into question his ability as a commander.

“Just look at the events of the past year--it’s obvious this man cannot control his military,” a disgruntled navy officer said recently.

The criticism of Ramos has escalated this week, with former Ramos supporters, including diplomats knowledgeable about internal military affairs, echoing the tone of the unnamed intelligence report.

“Many of us,” one said, asking not to be further identified, “felt from the very beginning that Ramos was too weak for the position. But you must keep in mind that it is always the tendency of someone in uniform to take his problems out on his commander.”

‘Simply No One Else’

Senior military commanders feel that Ramos will serve out the two years he has left as chief of staff under President Aquino. One general, who asked not to be identified by name, said:

“The problem facing the palace right now, quite frankly, is that there simply is no one else who even has a chance of unifying this military. Despite his faults, Eddie (as Ramos is called) is still the only one who can walk that tightrope.”

Gen. Renato de Villa, a key Ramos supporter who commands the Philippine Constabulary--the national military police force--conceded Tuesday that the military has “so many problems,” but he insisted that Ramos is Aquino’s only hope of building new loyalty in the ranks.

“He is still loved by the overwhelming majority of the men,” De Villa said.