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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 27, 1986
PAGE 17
Neither has she, at 53, come unprepared to the intricacies of
Philippine politics and business. Her father was a sugar baron
in Tarlac province. The table-talk at home was local politics,
on which the family had a lot of influence.
She got a
mathematics degree and thought of applying her talents to the
practice of law, the normal path into politics in the
Philippines. Instead, Corazon Cojuangco married a politician,
Benigno Aquino. During 28 years of marriage she had an inside
view of the ruthlessness of Philippine politics as her husband
rose to become a presidential contender and the main challenger
to Ferdinand Marcos. Her husband's career, and his life, ended
with his assassination at Manila's airport in 1983••••
Mrs. Aquino•••is no Machiavelli. But she is clever and subtle,
and not to be underestimated. That is the easy part to say
about Mrs. Aquino. More difficult for non-Filipinos to grasp
is, for want of a better word, her mysticism.
In a
conversation with THE ECONOMIST she spoke strongly about her
Roman Catholicism. She believes that she is president because
of a miracle. She is not being metaphorical: she thinks God
· intervened.
Many Filipinos, including politicians from the
Marcos camp as well as from Mrs. Aquino's, believe the same.
Religion in the Philippines is intense in a way most Europeans
do not comprehend (though many Americans do).
The small
Protestant sects are fervent, and Muslims look to Iran for
inspiration. Philippine Catholicism has taken on the flavour
of the country, absorbing a bit of idolatry, a bit of animism,
a bit of astrology. The cult known as Maryism--near-worship of
the·Virgin--is widely supported. Mrs. Aquino's election rallies
took on something of the character of a Mass, with statues of
the Virgin on the speaker's platform••••
Legally speaking, Mrs Aquino is governing unconstitutionally.
Under the constitution, Mr. Marcos is still president, having
been proclaimed in office by the discredited parliament. Mrs.
Aquino's government is technically "revolutionary", although
that disturbing word is being dropped in favour of
"transitional."
The lawyers (following its beloved American
example, the Philippines has 35,000 of them, six times the
number of doctors) argue incessantly about this technicality,
but most people take little notice.
The Philippines' economic picture is indeed depressing for those who are
not in the 1 percent of the upper class and 9 to 10 percent of the middle
class. Per capita income now ranges at about $625 per year--$200 below
what it was three years ago. More than half the work force is either
unemployed or underemployed.
Mr. John Halford and I experienced the
underemployment situation when, recently in the Philippines, we stopped at
a gasoline station.
Six young men pounced on the car to service it.
Three were wearing company T-shirts, obviously employees. The other three
either were friends, hangers-on or perhaps employees as well.
--Gene Hogberg, News Bureau