The Ninoy Aquino Letter  ͦ  Report to the People

Vol. 1, No. 1
March 1, 1971

Dear Friend:

* As one of those who helped elevate me to the Senate, I owe you a report from time to time.

* Most politicians depend on the mass media to carry reports about their activities and on occasional sorties to the provinces to get in touch with their political supporters. This I feel is not enough.

* That is why I have devised this LETTER as a report to you and the people. This LETTER will come to you every two months, or more frequently as the need may arise. In this LETTER, I will –

1. Report to you on my activities as a Senator.
2. Report on some developments in the news whose significance may have been lost in the mass of details.
3. Clarify certain developments in the news to give you the correct perspective at least from my point of view.
4. Give you my views on developments in government, politics, economics and other fields of interest to all of us as citizens.
5. Advance certain ideas that we should all be thinking about as civic, religious and community leaders.

* In return I ask nothing from you except that as a friend you will write to me when you have the time about the ideas and views in the LETTER. Or, if there is any item which interests you, please write and I shall be happy to furnish you with additional information and details.

* To help you easily identify each item, the items have been given individual numbers (please turn to Page 2 as an example). You will note that each separate subject has a separate number. Thus, if you want more details about item 02, simply write saying: “Please give me more details about item 02.”

* In this way we can start a two-way communications system. In this way you can have access to me and we shall have a chance to know each other more. The problem today is the existence of a communications gap between the people and the politicians, and this communications gap leads to credibility gap.

* I hope you will help me in closing this gap. This LETTER is the beginning. Now, let me hear from you.

Sincerely yours,

1.   OVERALL PICTURE: We are living in a most exciting period of our history. Dramatic changes which will affect the life of every Filipino now and in generations to come are fast occurring. Our people are undergoing qualitative politicalization unparalleled in our quest for political maturity. Old notions are being challenged and even old doctrines are being questioned specially by the young. But behind all these ferment is the indomitable will of the Filipino to remain free. Definitely the Filipino is not yet ready to jump into the communist bandwagon much less allow fascism to grow roots.

* Many pin their hopes on Constitutional Convention. In spite of earlier fears, we believe the Convention scheduled to open on June 1, is independent, strong enough and sufficiently clear-minded to write into our revised Constitution the broad principles underlying our people’s aspirations for social justice.

* Economic indicators tend to be optimistic. Money will still be hard to come by, but credit relaxation towards the middle of this year has been promised. Prices will still continue to rise; however, not at the galloping rate recorded in late 1970, it is hoped. And if the Marcos administration does not go into profligate spending in this year’s local elections, there is a chance 1972 may see a meaningful improvement in the overall situation.

2.   IMF REPORT ON CONSULTATIONS: An international Monetary Fund team headed by D. S. Sarker completed an assessment of the overall economic picture of the country. From his report, the following economic policies are indicated for 1971:

1. More foreign borrowings to enable the Philippines to continue “sustained effort to further develop the economy.”

1. No major changes in monetary and credit policies are expected at least during the first semester of the year. (But in his State-of-the-Nation address, President Marcos promised an early relaxation of credit.)

1. Fixing the peso-dollar rate appears remote within the immediate future because of seasonal pressures and the coming ‘71 elections.

3.   NEW CREDIT LINES: The Private Development Bank of the Philippines looks forward this year to opening new credit lines with the U.S., Japan and Germany’s export-import bank. PDB’s borrowing diversification intends to make it less dependent on the IBRD. 

4.   DUTIES ON EXPORTS TO U.S. UP 20%: The last phase of the special trade relations between the Philippines and the U.S. under the Laurel-Langley agreement went into effect January 1, automatically raising duties on Filipino exports to the American market by 20 per cent. 

5.   TIE-UP WITH JAPANESE FIRM. A Filipino investor group has tied up Tiijin, Ltd. and Toyo Menka for a ₱100-million polyester plant. Operations will start in December 1971.

6.   A.G.&P GOES FILIPINO. Another Filipino investor group has completed negotiations to take over the American-owned A.G.&P, one of the oldest and largest U.S. firms in the country. 

7.   LAW AND ORDER. The Marcos administration has apparently decided to take the hard line on demonstrators. Tension still reigns over the Greater Manila area. The President, judging from his very tight security, considers the danger of assassination a distinct possibility. Armed robberies, holdups and violence continue to increase. No citizen is safe today from assassins. What is the solution? President Marcos tightened the firearms ban. This failed. Then he liberalized licensing of firearms to encourage registration of loose guns. This, too, failed. In his State-of-the-Nation address Mr. Marcos pledged to disband “unlawful private armies”. But no one is inclined to believe him – not as long as the most notorious private armies are headed by his own trusted subalterns.

8.   POLITICS. This is an election year. With the people completely disappointed and disgusted with the Marcos administration and his Nacionalista party, it means the turning point for the Liberal party. I am confident that the Liberal party will capture more than 50 per cent of all local elective positions… I shall give you a more detailed forecast in the next few weeks… The break between President Marcos and the Lopez empire is undermining the Nacionalista party. If the break is not patched up, the Lopez group will have to fight Marcos for control of the party, or get out and enter into a working arrangement with the Liberals… Of course, it is entirely possible that Marcos and Lopez will eventually kiss and make up. There’s too much at stake for both of them. And they know that divided they can ruin each other…

9.   ARMED REVOLT IN THE 70’s? Some people say the time is ripe for a revolt. I personally believe an armed revolt is improbable. I discussed this exhaustively in an article I wrote for the PACIFIC COMMUNITY last October 1970:

      * “A revolution by the urban Filipinos, while possible, is improbable, however. A revolution requires leadership, ideology and organization, not to mention arms and material support, and the Filipinos who can provide these – – the professionals, intellectuals and businessmen – while disappointed with the system, still feel change can be effected within the present framework. As things are, no ideology, leadership, or organization to inspire a revolution can be seen… 

     * “In any case, if the far-fetched happens, it surely will be put down. At best, it will be a ‘pocket revolution’ limited to the city and, doubtless, it will be quickly crushed…

• “If a spontaneous revolution is doomed, the more so is a communist-led or communist-inspired uprising, although the extreme left is still trying. What will prevent it from spreading, as the Huk rebellion has been prevented, is the religion of the people. Christian or Muslim, a Filipino, by his religion, militates against godless communism…

   * “What possibly can happen, however, is any of three other things. A lone tortured soul may, as did lonely and tortured souls in other countries, assassinate the President, symbol in his eyes of all that has brought on his tortured existence. Or some Army generals, in disgust with the way things are, may stage a coup. Or the President himself may seize complete power and install himself as President for life, an Asian euphemism for dictator.”