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A
POLJTICAL TREND
of deep sig–
J-\.
nificance is sweeping South–
east Asia.
Nation after nation in this corner
of the world is shedding the tradi–
tionally democratic legacies of
former colonial masters. Their lead–
ers have opted instead for various
forms of authoritarianism - the
same governmental style in vogue
throughout Asia in the days before
democracy first took hold. Thailand,
South Korea. South Vietnam and
Singapore are examples of nations
which. under severe pressure both
internally and externally. have re–
tained democratic government
in
name but not necessarily in practice.
8
The Philippines is another such
nation. Once hailed as the "show
window of democracy in Asia," this
collection of more than 7, 100 trop–
ical islands in the South China Sea
has confronted a series of mounting
crises with a declaration of martial
law and a new cons titution signifi–
cantly altered from the one imple–
mented thirty-eight years ago under
watchful Western eyes.
Marcos' Move
Philippines' Presiden! Ferdinand
E. Marcos, having eluded a reported
seven attempts upon his life during
the opening months of 1972. deter–
mined by September 22 of that year
that only martial Jaw would stem
the critically rising tide of political
and social chaos wasbing over his
oation.
President Marcos attributed the
causes of the cbaos to the contin–
uing threat of Vietnam-style com–
munist insurgency and to steadily
mounting social and economic ills
which threatened lo undermine the
very foundation of Philippine so–
ciety.
For decades, the Filipinos have
been faced with various challenges
to their established way of life. In
the fifties and early sixties, the criti–
ca! issue was the spread of interna!
problems created by the
Hukbala-
PLAIN TRUTH November 1973