MARCOS SAYS U.S. ACTIONS HELP DIVIDE HIS ARMY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660002-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660002-2
Asked today if General Ver would re- Scorns of Friction
tain his post through elections ached- One such confrontation, be said,
uled for Feb. 7, Mr. Marcos said: "I came over General Ver's desire to keep
doubt it. I would like to settle this prob- the Philippine Constabulary as a garri-
lem as soon as possible, and when I say son force that would not come in con-
as soon as possible, it may happen next tact with civilians, and General
week. It may happen the week after Ramos's attempts to retrain and or-
that." ganize several battalions.
He implied that General Ver would Mr. Marcos said that the day after
stay on as a consultant even if he is re- General Ver was reinstated, "the
moved from his command. board of generals confronted each
In his year as Acting Chief of Staff, other, including General Ramos and
General Ramos became the focus for General Ver, and General Ver asked
hopes for change. He hinted that he some very penetrating questions."
would consider resigning his commis- On that day, he
sion if General Ver were reinstated. asked the generals -
Reorganismg the Mittary ins with soldiers who have or anized a R%yaw arouo wt in
the
ranks. Lig
The President earlier announce d a y'A ho also asked: " 'What is the cause
top-to-bottom reorganization of the of the lapses of intelligence and disci-
*arcos Says U.S. Actions Help Divide His Army
By SETH MYDANS
Special to Tb. New York Times
MANILA, Dec. 16- President Ferdi-
nand E. Marcos said today that Amer-
ican pressure to remove the Chief of
Staff, Gen. Fabian C. Ver, had contrib-
uted to a factional dispute that was
hampering the work of the Philippine
military.
Mr. Marcos, who despite American
Pressure reinstated General Ver, said
in an interview that he expected the
general to be removed from his post
soon.
General Ver was reinstated on Dec.
3, the day after he was acquitted on
charges of involvement in the assassi-
nation of the opposition leader Benign
S. Aquino Jr. in 1983.
Mr. Marcos said he was prepared to
file charges if necessary against senior
military officers to help resolve the dis-
pute, which pits General Ver against
Lieut. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos. General
Ramos is General Ver's deputy and
served in his place during the general's
yearlong leave.
"We have never admitted this, but
followers of General Ver. followers of
General Ramos, they are all sitting on
their haunches, they are watching each
ether." Mr. Marcos said.
He said: "I called the two generals
and told them, 'I want you to call all
these people and tell them this has got
to end. Otherwise, I'm going to kick out
everybody and put in new men."'
Mr. Marcos's disclosure of a rift was
the first confirmation of factional trou-
bles in the Philippine military. Hints of
the problem have been disclosed to out-
siders, but Mr. Marcos is the first offi-
cial to say it is hampering the mili-
tary's performance.
"The whole armed forces is slowed
down by factionalism," he said.
Mr. Marcos said he told his generals
he was concerted about some "lapses
of intelligence and discipline.''
The United States had pressed Mr.
Marcos not to reinstate General Ver
and is now p.'- --h g for his early re-
moval, saying the refits of a man who
is seen as symbolising political Qatron-
age in the military would set back ef-
forts for change.
The President has hinted that the
reinstatement of General Ver is tempo-
rary but has declined to say definitely
that he would be removed.
military, but some officers have dis-
missed it as a ploy to deflect American
criticism of General Ver's reinstate-
ment and of the discipline, training and
performance of the. military.
The day after General Vet's re-
instatement, Mr. Marcos said, the two
generals and some of their supporters
confronted each other in the Presi-
dent's office, where he had called them
17 December 1985
was conducted at Malacanang Palace,
were A. M. Rosenthal, executive editor
of The New York Times, and Warren
Hoge, the newspaper's foreign editor.
to "put your hair down." Rebel Threat Called Exaggerated
Mr. Marcos said: "I told them I don't In other part of the interview, Mr.
intend to scandalize the armed forces. Marcos said Western worries about ad-
But if necessary, I will. I'm going to file vances in guerrilla activities were ex-
charges against anyone who doesn't aggerated, probably because foreign
follow orders." analysts were not familiar enough with
President said. --i told them the facts of
life. There is no rivalry."
He quoted the two generals as say-
ing: "Both of us will probably resign
together. And we leave it to the Presi-
dent who should be Chief of Staff." He
said he had given then a list of names
will they be able to reach what they call
a strategic stalemate," he said of the
rebels.
Despite official assurances to the
contrary, he said, some Americans
have become actively involved in sup-
from which to make recommendations Corazon C. Aquino, Mr. Aquino's
for their replacements. widow. After suggesting that the Cen-
The president said the American tral Intelligence Agency might be
pressure not to reinstate General Ver among these people, he said, he had re-
had caused a backlash among his mill- ceived assurances that there would be
anyone.
pport for
su
bothof
financial
tart' supporters and their rivals
k
,
l
might use
As
ed if
wife,
his
backwhom' in he the said had begun performance to of "hold
their I a loophole in the election law to substi-
duties, waiting for a resolution of the cute for his vice-presidential candidate,
situation. Arturo M. Tolentino, Mr. Marcos said,
Asked if this was harming the battle No way, no way." He said he and his
against insurgency, Mr. Marcos said: wife and the party's leadership had
"Oh, they would fight. But they would- agreed to make "an open declaration
n't follow the initiative. They wouldn't that she is not seeking office in this or
?
receive the surrenderees. And I told any other coming election.
them, 'This is treasonable, and if this Reacting to a statement by Mrs.
continues I'm going to throw the book Aquino that she would probably put
at you.' But I first told the two gen-
erals, ,You know the problems, now
you get to work at this., "
He said General Ver had asked to be
reinstated only after his acquittal so he
could recover his honor and good
name, and offered to resign the same
day.
"I said, 'No, you've got some prob-
lems to settle,' because of course there
was a confrontation on policies."
him on trial for the killing of her hus-
band if she won the election, be said, "I
realize she has nerve, but this is a little
bit much."
"This would provoke repercus-
sions," he said, suggesting that the
court would not issue a warrant and the
police would not arrest him if she
moved against him.
"This indicates the vindictive,
vengeful mood which motivates their
bid for the presidency," he said. "And
it is not for the public welfare, but ap-
parently to get even with me."
"She doesn't need to wait for the
elections," Mr. Marcos added. "Why
doesn't she file the case now, so we can
settle this once and for all."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660002-2