Aquino Rise to Power Celebrated; War Goes On

President Corazon Aquino’s government launched a four-day celebration today, marking the first anniversary of the rebellion that brought her to power, while troops were alerted in Manila that urban Communist death squads plan attacks in the city to try to ruin the festivities.

At the same time, government troops backed by helicopter gunships continued to fight guerrillas in jungles far north and south of this capital, with the armed forces announcing 17 new casualties in one of the bloodiest weeks of fighting in the 18-year Communist insurgency.

A senior intelligence official said Saturday that the military uncovered a plot to move the battlefield to Manila this week by using groups of armed partisans known as “sparrow units” to infiltrate parades and crowds and disrupt the anniversary celebration.

Despite the armed forces’ concern, everything appeared calm in this city of 8 million people, many of whom poured into the streets a year ago today to support a small military faction as it rebelled against the 20-year rule of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, now in exile in Hawaii.

Will Climax Wednesday

The government-sanctioned “people power celebration” will climax Wednesday, the anniversary of the day Marcos fled his presidential palace, when Aquino will attempt to re-create the human sea that filled a suburban boulevard outside two military camps where former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and armed forces Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos had holed up during the three-day revolt a year ago.

American folk singers Peter, Paul and Mary have volunteered to perform a free concert. The military will parade its men and arms. Church bells will ring nationwide at 6 p.m., and, at 9:15 p.m., the approximate time Marcos and his family and friends fled the palace in two U.S. Air Force helicopters Feb. 25, 1986, seven Japanese technicians will set off more than a ton of fireworks donated by the Japanese government.

Aquino has proclaimed the day a “national holiday of liberation.”

But the four days of events, which include open houses at military camps and mass recital of the rosary at grandstands and churches throughout the country, clearly were designed as an attempt to renew the faith and friendship between the armed forces and Aquino’s civilian government.

Survived 4 Plots

Aquino has survived at least four military plots against her administration in the year since she took power from Marcos. Several military factions remain deeply bitter toward civilian government officials whom they see as being as inept, corrupt or lazy as they were under Marcos.

Other leaders of the political opposition and even several of Aquino’s supporters have used the occasion as a moment to assess her government’s performance.

In the face of gushing congratulations from many sectors of Philippine society, Rafael M. Salas, a respected scholar and diplomat, declared in a speech Friday that Aquino has been so obsessed with staying in power that she has ignored the day-to-day management of the country.

“Managing the aftermath of a revolution, no matter how peaceful, is difficult,” he said. “In my view, a year is about the limit that we can afford to neglect basic management problems, if we wish the next five years to be progressive.”

Considered for Cabinet

Salas, a longtime Aquino supporter, is visiting Manila for the anniversary observation from his post in New York, where he serves as an undersecretary of the United Nations. Many analysts are speculating that Aquino is considering him for a position in her Cabinet during a pending shake-up.

Gen. Ramos, one of the principal heroes of the rebellion, also has used the past week to assess the state of the nation a year after it overthrew Marcos.

“We are about to finish one year of the people power revolution,” Ramos said in a press conference, “and we must recognize that the armed forces of the Philippines and the Integrated National Police have been largely instrumental in maintaining the stability of our country for the past one year.”

He added that, despite divisions within the armed forces that reflect “the factionalism that exists in our whole society today,” the military is more unified than any of the other sectors of society.

At week’s end, Ramos nonetheless again had to publicly warn rightist groups in the armed forces against any move to overthrow the government this week, adding that they “lost their chance” with the overwhelming approval Feb. 2 of a new constitution giving Aquino five more years in office.

Military on Alert

Ramos added that there is no lingering distrust between the nation’s soldiers and civilians.

But, at military camps throughout Manila today, soldiers were on red alert, searching all civilians before they were permitted to enter.

And Aquino herself spent the eve of today’s celebration on a grim mission--a visit to the remote town of Namulandayan about 100 miles north of Manila where at least 12 civilians were killed by government troops battling Communist rebels Feb. 10.

Meeting the grieving families of the dead in a deserted hut, Aquino told them, “We’re all Filipinos. We should be considerate of each other. And I hope this incident will not be repeated.”