The World - News from Sept. 9, 1988

President Corazon Aquino said that law and order has collapsed in the Philippines and restoring it is her government’s first priority. The president did not offer any statistics in her speech in Manila on the 22nd anniversary of the National Police Commission, a watchdog body that monitors police abuses. She appealed for public support for a bill now in Congress that would merge the Philippine constabulary and local police into one national police force. Last month, Aquino denounced the involvement of soldiers and police in such crimes as murder, car thefts, prostitution, gambling and extortion of money from businesses and motorists.