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How much use those lines would see was unclear. Saturnino Ocampo, the top negotiator for the Communist insurgents, insisted that the guerrillas would observe the truce until Feb. 7, but did not appear optimistic about a resumption of discussions. Francisco Pascual, another rebel official, suggested that last week's killings might "affect the peace talks because we support the marchers' right to organize and air their grievances." Evidence also surfaced that the Communists had been prepared all along to pull out of the negotiations. In several towns guerrillas who had come out of the jungle during the cease-fire disappeared, apparently returning to their hideouts.
There were suggestions in Manila newspapers that anti-Communist hard- liners in the military had helped undermine the peace effort. Though Aquino and Defense Minister Ileto favor negotiations, some military officers argue that compromise with the Communists is impossible and that the cease-fire only postpones the inevitable resumption of fighting. A study conducted by army intelligence and released last week concluded that a "cessation of hostilities" was a "practical impossibility" because the revolutionary principles of the rebels are nonnegotiable. Enrile uses that very argument to rally his supporters against Aquino; the officers suspected of involvement in November's coup plot share his view.
The excitement generated by the Mendiola Bridge clash and the collapse of the truce talks nearly buried allegations of yet another conspiracy against Aquino. Though the President denied that such an effort had been under way, top-ranking military officers handed journalists a document prepared for Major General Rodolfo Canieso, the commanding general of the army, confirming that there had been new plotting. The report said the conspiracy had been hatched by five brigadier generals and a colonel who were "in league" with Marcos supporters and powerful businessmen "disgusted by the security situation." The report provided no explanation of how the effort had been foiled.
At week's end Aquino was facing yet another headache: release of a tape by Enrile's ally Homobono Adaza that records a phone call between the President and her representatives on the constitutional commission. The conversations indicate that Aquino strongly opposed language in the law that would bar U.S. bases, a point she addresses more gingerly in public. The only bright spot in the week, it seemed, was news that the Philippines' Western creditors had agreed to reschedule the country's $870 million debt, an important international vote of confidence in the Aquino government.
With hopes of reconciliation with the Communists fading and the Philippine military less than united, observers in Manila suggested that Aquino would have to act swiftly and firmly to assert her authority. A favorable vote in the plebiscite on the constitution, for which she resumed campaigning late last week, should give her government some respite. In the end, however, she may not be able to avoid an out-and-out confrontation with antidemocratic forces of left and right, meaning that she may have to send the military back into battle with the guerrillas and put coup plotters behind bars. "Whatever Aquino does," said a ranking government official, "the honeymoon is definitely over." Now it is up to Aquino to make her presidency work.