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 sincerity and firmness rarely seen during the Marcos era. "If nothing else," she said, "I think I should be given credit for having helped remove Mr. Marcos from office."
The single most important feature of Aquino's new government, however, may be the one thing it shares with the Marcos regime: a staggering agenda of problems that include a $26.2 billion foreign debt, the military threat posed by 16,000 Communist insurgents and a political system crippled by two decades of corruption. Though Aquino has committed no major blunders, she has yet to answer the questions that will arise once her honeymoon ends. "Her credibility is high in terms of popular support," says Edgardo Angara, president of the University of the Philippines. "What may be a little unsettling to some people is the question of whether that credibility is backed up by the political ability to manage."
The most fundamental issue before Aquino is how to undertake a thoroughgoing purge of Marcos' corrupt legacy without seeming authoritarian. On the local level, for example, the new government has already removed 71 of the 74 governors and 52 of the 60 city mayors who belong to Marcos' party. But in discharging them so peremptorily, the President has sparked complaints that she is indulging a Marcos-like self-interest. "I thought she was going to be a nonpartisan President," grumbles Richard Gordon, the dynamic young mayor of Olangapo, who was replaced by an Aquino appointee. "But it's still personality politics that prevails here."
The Augean mess left by Marcos has proved even more paralyzing in the economic sphere. Although Aquino's very presence has helped to restore the confidence of the international business community, new investments have been slow to arrive. By one estimate, the government would have to maintain a formidable 6.3% annual growth rate just to repay on schedule a fortune in foreign loans. Meanwhile, roughly 45% of the work force is underemployed, and two of every three Filipinos live below the poverty line.