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Indeed, the President's credibility as a strong leader has taken a beating. Two weeks ago a pro-land-reform demonstration ended in tragedy when marines opened fire on a crowd of protesters, killing at least twelve people. The same day peace talks between the Aquino government and Communist insurgents collapsed. A few days later an Enrile ally released a tape of a September phone conversation between the President and an aide that cast doubt on Aquino's assurances that she would in no way try to influence the constitutional committee. The coup attempt and Marcos' machinations followed soon after.
Although there was cause for worry that Marcos and the mutineers were conspiring, Aquino remained impressively unrattled. Seven hours after the coup attempt began last Tuesday, she pledged on national television that "nothing will derail our effort to establish full constitutional democracy in the coming plebiscite." Abandoning the conciliatory approach she favored last July when mutinous soldiers were sentenced to 30 push-ups each, Aquino vowed this time to apply the full force of law: "There is a time for reconciliation and a time for justice and retribution. That time has come." Said a Western diplomat: "She's proving she has a lot more strength than she has ever shown. She has a good sense of timing."
Still, there was a disconcerting sense that Aquino was not fully in charge of the military. At various times during the ordeal, both Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fidel Ramos and Defense Minister Rafael Ileto blatantly ignored her orders. While Aquino directed the arrest and detention of the mutineers Tuesday, negotiations dragged on well into Thursday morning. On Wednesday night Ramos suspended orders for a tear-gas attack on the Channel 7 redoubt, a move that aides say irritated the President. Furthermore, Ramos assured the mutineers that they would be "entitled to due process" and did not mention Aquino's call for courts-martial. Aquino, however, seemed determined to hold the mutineers accountable. At week's end she warned, "They can expect no mercy from me."
Aquino's week had got off to a promising enough start. Sunday was the President's 54th birthday. Opting for a low-key celebration, she spent the day with her family. But the outside world soon intruded on the gathering. Some 500 demonstrators marched near Malacanang Palace, bearing a huge black streamer that read, incongruously, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CORY. They carried cardboard coffins to commemorate the protesters who had died in the Jan. 22 bloodbath.
The next day Aquino ordered that the demonstrators be allowed to parade past the grounds where the shooting had taken place. When a throng of 15,000 marched to the main gate of the palace, they were greeted not by police but by a single line of high-ranking government officials. It was a shrewd move. As the protesters came face to face with the officials, the rally began to feel like a reunion of the forces that had taken to the streets last February to topple Marcos. Conceded Presidential Adviser Aquilino Pimentel: "I feel awkward to be on the other side of the fence."