Military Maneuvers

The week after General Fabian Ver, armed forces Chief of Staff, was named by the majority of an investigating commission as a conspirator in the Aug. 21, 1983, assassination of Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino, there were signs of a split in the military over the allegation. A pro-government Manila newspaper carried a full-page advertisement signed by 68 of the 83 general officers in the 200,000-man Philippine armed forces expressing "unwavering loyalty and support to General Ver." Conspicuously absent was the name of General Fidel Ramos, the acting Chief of Staff. Some of the officers whose names were listed complained privately that they had not signed the statement.

Meanwhile, opposition members of the National Assembly objected to the government's plan to have the case against Ver, and 25 others named by the investigating board, tried in a tribunal that normally deals with graft and corruption offenses. The legislators called instead for the creation of a special court of retired justices and independent citizens. Said Assemblywoman Eva Kalaw: "The murder of Senator Aquino is not simply a case of graft. It is a high crime."