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New Nationalism. When he took over, Marcos seemed almost ideally equipped to cope with the country's problems. But his development plan, which aims at, among other things, spreading new industries throughout the islands and thus helping the country's lagging industrial growth to catch up with the rise in population, requires foreign investments of at least $1 billion. Because he has lost control of the Senate to the opposition Liberal Party and a handful of defectors from his own Nacionalista Party, Marcos has been unable to get through the laws that he needs to attract money from abroad. His plan to distribute land to the peasants has run aground on the obduracy of the landlords and the ineffectiveness of his own administrators. He has made some headway in rooting out corrupt officials in the customs bureau, thus cutting down on smuggling losses.
Marcos' job is made no easier by a wave of nationalism that is sweeping the islands. Unfortunately, much of the feeling is anti-American and thus anti-Marcos, since he is openly on the U.S. side. Many Filipinos complain that he should steer a more neutral course. His rivals in Congress, for example, are badgering him for sending two battalions of engineers to Viet Nam, threaten to force him to recall them. To show his independence, Marcos has publicly demanded the return of the U.S. Navy's Sangley Point Air Station to Philippine control. Though Washington would like to make Marcos look good, it is not yet willing to go that far.
Though he is besieged by troubles, Marcos is a long way from being beaten. In fact, the very gravity of the present situation may work in his favor. "The stakes are much too high," writes Manila Times Columnist Maximo V.
Soliven, "to permit us the luxury of surrender to despair."