1976: Philippines
1. Politics and government.
As the Philippines entered its fifth
year under martial law, President Ferdinand E. Marcos reiterated his promise to
return to ordinary rule once the threat of rebellion no longer exists and the
economic crisis is past. Meanwhile, in a national referendum on October 16, the
electorate approved the continuation of government under martial law.
Another question on the October
referendum concerned the fate of a proposed interim National Assembly,
consisting of delegates to the constitutional convention and former members of
the defunct national legislature. An interim legislature was to have been
created under the terms of the post—martial law constitution approved by voters
in January 1973, but no legislature, as so described, has been convened, and
Philippine voters had to decide whether to endorse the formation of a new
legislative advisory council in its place. The previous month, President Marcos
formed such an advisory council, consisting of members of the president's
cabinet and 91 members of people's assemblies, and the council was approved by
a large majority of those voting in the October referendum.
Imelda Marcos, the nation's first
lady, was appointed governor of the newly created province of Metropolitan
Manila in November 1975. The following June, Manila once again became the
official capital of the Philippines, a distinction that it had lost to the
suburban Quezon City in 1948.
2. Foreign relations.
In seeking to adjust to the changed
political realities in Southeast Asia, the Philippines government continued to
seek out new diplomatic ties. Establishment of diplomatic relations with the
People's Republic of China in the summer of 1975 was followed this June by
normalization of relations with the Soviet Union. In July, diplomatic ties were
established with the newly unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
Negotiations continued between the
Philippines and the United States regarding changes in their mutual defense
treaty and a new economic pact to replace the expired Laurel-Langley trade
agreement between the two countries. There was agreement in principle that
sovereignty and jurisdiction over U.S. military bases in the islands would be
returned to the Philippines and that trade between the two countries could not
be continued on the same preferential basis as before. The negotiators have
deadlocked, however, on some of the issues involved, particularly on the
question of how the basic understanding should be implemented.
3. Economy.
The Philippines recorded a 5.8
percent real growth in its gross national product for 1975. The increase was
accounted for mainly by gains in agricultural production, with the country
enjoying a surplus in rice supply for the first time in many years. Also
contributing to the performance of the economy in 1975 were record gains in
construction and a sharp upturn in the tourist trade.
On the minus side was the more than
$1 billion trade deficit brought about by falling export prices and a large
increase in the import bill for petroleum, which skyrocketed from less than
$200 million in 1973 to over $650 million in 1974 and close to $770 million in
1975. The 1976 oil bill was expected to approach $1 billion. The overall $500
million balance-of-payments deficit for 1975 was expected to be reduced to
around $200 million in 1976. Although the excess of import payments over export
receipts during the first half of the year passed $500 million, it was
anticipated that the recovery in the prices of copper and other metals,
excluding gold, and other major foreign exchange earners would bring in
substantially larger export receipts during the second half. Also counted on to
ease balance-of-payments problems was a heavy inflow of foreign exchange from
loans and other financial accommodations to finance multimillion-dollar
industrial projects in the last few months of the year.
The country's external debt, in
excess of $4 billion as of this year, is likely to soar further when foreign
exchange credits, from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the U.S.
and other foreign governments, are released in the next few years. Topping the
list of major construction projects to be financed with external as well as
domestic borrowings was a more than $1 billion nuclear power plant to be built
in Bataan. In January, the U.S. Export-Import Bank announced that it had
granted the Philippines government a $277 million loan—the largest single line
of credit ever extended by the bank—to aid in construction of the power plant.
The Bataan facility was scheduled for completion in 1982, at which time it is
expected to provide 43 percent of Luzon's energy needs.
4. Disasters.
Two natural disasters struck the
islands in the course of the year. In late May, the east coast of Luzon was
battered by a week-long barrage of high winds and torrential rains from Typhoon
Olga. The resultant massive flooding killed over 200 people, left another
600,000 homeless, and caused severe damage to the rice and coconut crops. Three
months later, on August 17, the southern island of Mindanao was rocked by a
severe earthquake that left more than 8,000 persons dead or missing. Many of
the missing were swept away by the 18-foot tidal wave that followed the tremor,
which registered 7.8 on the Richter scale.
5. Insurgents.
Self-proclaimed supporters of the
Moro National Liberation Front, a group of Muslim insurgents, carried out two
airplane hijackings in the spring. The first, on April 7, involved the takeover
at Manila airport of a Philippines Airlines DC-8 with 75 people aboard. After
the government rejected demands for $300,000 in ransom and the release of
several so-called political prisoners, the three hijackers set free all but 11
of their hostages and forced the crew to fly them to Libya, where the remainder
were released. Similar demands were made by the six hijackers of another
Philippines Airlines plane on May 21. Again the government refused to accede,
and after two days of negotiations failed to break the impasse, army troops
stormed the aircraft at Zamboanga airport. In the ensuing melee, three
hijackers and 13 hostages were killed and 19 other people were injured.
In August the government apparently
succeeded in neutralizing the New People's Army, a Communist insurgency group,
by capturing 25 of its ranking leaders. Among those captured was Bernabe
Buscayno, the top military leader of the dissident movement.
6. Area and population.
Area, 115,830 sq. mi. Pop. (est.
1976), 42.8 million. Manila (cap.; met. area), 4.5 million.
7. Government.
Republic under martial law. Pres.
and prime min., Ferdinand E. Marcos.
8. Finance.
Monetary unit, peso; 1 peso =
US$0.1375. Budget (1976): US$2.53 billion.
9. Trade (1975).
Imports, $3.46 billion; exports,
$2.29 billion.
10. Education (1975).
Enrollment: elementary schools,
8,364,406; secondary schools, 2,158,983; institutions of higher learning,
916,190.
11. Armed forces (est. 1975).
Army, 39,000; navy, 14,000; air
force, 14,000.
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