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The increasingly anti-American mood in the opposition does not augur well for the future of U.S. bases in any post-Marcos government, whatever form it may take. Washington has now made clear to Marcos that it would like him to lift martial law and restore democratic processes. This change in attitude since the Nixon days is not just a reflection of the Carter Administration's sensibilities about human rights but is also a product of hard-bitten realism: How long can Marcos last if he remains inflexible? Says a militant nun: "We Filipinos are often compared to the water buffalo. It is such a passive, faithful, hard-working creature. But sometimes with no warning, it runs amuck and gores its master." The unanswered question is whether the master of the Philippines will heed a warning that has now been made loud and clear. ·
*The Philippines was ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the Spanish-American War in 1898, became a self-governing commonwealth in 1935 and achieved independence in 1946—with a constitution modeled on America's own.