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The killings could not have come at a worse time for Aquino, whose brief presidency has been a perilous struggle to unite the divided country under her popular leadership. The trouble broke less than two weeks before she is to face a major political test: a Feb. 2 plebiscite on a new constitution, drafted by her government. If the basic law, which would supplant the Marcos constitution of 1973, wins the voters' approval, it will not only confirm Aquino in the presidency for a full six-year term but will be widely viewed as an indicator of her popularity and legitimacy. Critics on the left complain the proposed constitution does not address the problems of the poor, while rightists assert that Aquino is not empowered to void the old constitution.
In Washington, U.S. State Department Spokesman Charles Redman expressed regret for the deaths. In private, a State Department official said he felt the government was stable, though he expected more challenges as Feb. 2 drew near. "There is an obligation to hope that she will pull through," he said. "She is the only viable leader."
When Aquino was told of the shootings, she immediately conferred with General Fidel Ramos, the armed forces Chief of Staff, General Rafael Ileto, the Defense Minister, and other officials. Later that evening she went on television to address the country. Looking drawn, and reading from a prepared text, she expressed her "deep regrets" at "this bloody incident" and promised a full investigation. "In the period before the plebiscite," she said, "attempts to destabilize the government and defeat our democratic aims will intensify. I urge our people to maintain sobriety."
Her foes paid her no heed. In a rash of statements, left-wingers likened the President to Marcos, while rightists denounced her, as they frequently have in the past, as too weak and indecisive to run a government. Said a statement issued by Bayan, the largest leftist coalition: "Bayan points the finger of guilt at the Aquino government. By this act it has been shorn of all past claims of being democratic and antifascist." Juan Ponce Enrile, the ambitious former Defense Minister who was sacked by Aquino after the November coup attempt, also pounced on the President. "It is about time," he declared, "that we remove the masks worn by those of our national leadership and expose the true nature of their capacity to run the affairs of our republic."
In an effort to discover how the tragedy at the Mendiola Bridge could have happened, Aquino appointed Vincente Abad Santos, a retired Supreme Court Justice, to conduct an inquiry. She accepted the offer of General Ramon Montano, the constabulary chief of Manila, to take a leave. Montano admitted that the soldiers "might have overreacted," but "as far as we are concerned, we exercised maximum tolerance. We had to stop them, or they would have been all over Malacanang." That did not explain why tear gas, water cannons and fire hoses had not been used against the crowd before the security forces began shooting.