The Aquino Government under Siege

  • Eduardo C. Tadem

Abstract

The 1989 December Coup, dubbed as “seven days, seven nights” left the Philippines deeply mired in physical and moral wounds. Considered as one of the worst attacks on President Aquino’s government, the coup drastically altered the political and economic landscape of this country with the survival of President Aquino’s administration placed at stake and 200,000 jobs and 1.4 billion dollars worth of economic investment forgone in just seven days. On one side, how the government addressed the coup problem and the consequences of her government’s decision in the social, economic and political lives of the people, and on the other side, how the mutineers, public, and other personalities and institutions involved reciprocated President Aquino’s decisions are examined in this article.

In the final analysis, the paper concluded that the prospect for a quick recovery is discarded as the reforms sought by President Aquino are not adequate to improve the life of Filipinos, opening the prospect for another coup attempt in this country.
Published
2008-05-27
Section
Features

Keywords

1 December 1989 coup; Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM); Emergency Powers Act; IMF-World Bank; President Corazon Aquino; Gregorio Honasan