Aquino Sets Up Advisory Panel; Aide Grilled

President Corazon Aquino, in the wake of a bloody attempt to topple her government, today established a council of state and sent her top adviser to face a grilling in Congress.

The new council of state, to convene Thursday, will perform an advisory role similar to that of the U.S. National Security Council. It will include top Cabinet and military officials, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, and private sector representatives.

Asked if its members would include Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, a close associate of the men behind the Aug. 28 coup, Aquino said, “No.”

Aquino met privately today with a panel of political, military and municipal leaders to discuss civilian responses to any repeat of the Aug. 28 coup bid, the deadliest and most dangerous of five attempts to overthrow the 18-month-old government.

A presidential spokesman said the group agreed to improve communications so the public could be assured that the government is in control during any future crisis.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo, Aquino’s top aide, appeared before Congress and, in more than three hours of testimony, defended himself against charges of being a communist and of interfering with military operations during the coup attempt.

“I can never be a communist because I am steeped in the constitution,” said the 61-year-old former civil rights lawyer. “My commitment to human rights . . . was a commitment to the constitution. A communist cannot speak to the constitution.”

Arroyo, sometimes called the “little president,” denied suggestions that he wielded power over Aquino and described himself as “a messenger who implements the orders from the president.”