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Questions remained about less fortunate enemies of the Marcos regime. In a television interview, Human Rights Lawyer Joker Arroyo, 58, now the President's executive secretary, compared the Philippines to Argentina and its grisly legacy of "disappeared ones," the estimated 9,000 victims of military governments in Buenos Aires who mysteriously vanished between 1976 and 1982. ! "When the history of the Philippines is known," Arroyo said, "perhaps we will beat the record of Argentina in magnitude and torture."
Arroyo's claim is probably exaggerated, but not by much. Task Force Detainees, a Philippine religious organization that investigates detentions, says that in 1985 there were 602 disappearances, 1,326 cases of torture and 276 political executions. Last week newly freed prisoners gave chilling accounts of confinement in Marcos' jails. "I experienced kicking, boxing and mauling," said Danilo dela Fuente, 36, a labor organizer who was among the first to be released. "My head was banged against a concrete wall. They put a gun to my temple and played Russian roulette. They put it in my mouth and twisted it. Once I was blindfolded for 17 hours, and they would whisper, 'You will be killed tonight.' " The new Aquino administration is considering the establishment of a presidential commission to investigate political assassinations and unexplained disappearances during the Marcos era.
In selecting her Cabinet, Aquino demonstrated an understanding of politics that impressed even her harshest Washington critics. Except for two Marcos holdovers--Defense Minister Enrile and Central Bank Governor Jose Fernandez --the 16 men and one woman given ministerial portfolios represent the spectrum of centrist opposition that supported Aquino's candidacy. The Cabinet has a firmly middle-class, moderate cast that is so reflective of Aquino's own background and political views that a reporter at her first press conference pointedly asked whether the choices were too "elite." The Cabinet selections did not please the far left, which decried them as "bourgeois," but the ministers' middle-of-the-road credentials should appeal to the business community and the international lending institutions on which the Philippine economy depends for recovery. As important, Aquino's choices were widely recognized in both the Philippines and the U.S. as competent and dedicated, a far cry from the Marcos period, when many top positions in government went to relatives, friends and palace cronies.
The most prominent member of the Cabinet is Aquino's Vice President, Salvador ("Doy") Laurel, 57, a childhood friend of her husband's and a former Marcos supporter who did not join the opposition until 1980. Laurel was also named Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. The triple titles and double portfolio were largely a prearranged reward for Laurel, who set aside his own ^ presidential ambitions last December to become Aquino's running mate in the Feb. 7 election. As her part of the deal, Aquino, who had no party affiliation, agreed at the time to run on the ticket of Laurel's party, the United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO). The compromise ensured a united opposition ticket but angered leftists, who distrust Laurel and what they describe as his pro-American views.