The Philippines Storybook Rise, Uncertain Future

As the honeymoon ends, Aquino begins to face the hard realities

At the beginning, good fortune seemed to take her by the hand. Almost overnight, she in turn promised her countrymen a new world of integrity, democracy and grace. In the twelve weeks since she toppled Ferdinand Marcos, Philippine President Corazon Aquino has disbanded the discredited Marcos- controlled National Assembly and replaced the deposed dictator's self- serving 1973 constitution with a provisional "Freedom Constitution" of her own. She has converted the presidential Malacanang Palace into a public museum of her predecessor's egregious extravagance, and last week, in her first press conference with foreign reporters, the new leader displayed a characteristic blend of...

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