Editorials
Friday, October 3, 1997THE furor over the possibility that President Fidel Ramos would seek a second term by having the Philippine constitution amended has subsided in Manila. Defenders of the one-term limit in the constitution organized a massive protest demonstration on Sept. 21 that was described as the largest since the overthrow of the Marcos regime in 1986. Ramos mollifies his
critics on second termRamos, who had been making ambiguous statements regarding his intentions, got the message. He announced that he would not attempt to succeed himself in next year's election or support amendments to the constitution before the election.
Apparently the president mollified his most prominent critics -- Catholic Cardinal Jaime Sin and former President Corazon Aquino. Both the cardinal and the former president accepted Ramos' invitation to dinner at the presidential palace, Malacanang, on Wednesday. The atmosphere was described as cordial, "as if nothing had happened," according to a member of the cabinet who was present.
Ramos, Sin and Aquino all played key roles in the "people power" revolt against Ferdinand Marcos. Ramos served as secretary of defense in Aquino's government and received her endorsement when he ran for president in 1992. But speculation over Ramos' plans -- even claims that he might impose martial law -- had prompted Aquino and Sin to protest.
Ramos was keeping people guessing about his intentions in an apparent effort to avoid being consigned to lame-duck status, but the strategy backfired. However, smoothing over that rift leaves the future leadership very much in doubt.
The field of presidential candidates is large. None of the three strongest candidates -- Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Miriam Defensor-Santiago -- has Ramos' support thus far. Candidates allied with the administration are doing poorly in opinion polls. Ramos was an underdog in the 1992 election and squeaked through with about 25 percent of the vote. At this point the likelihood is that the next president will also receive considerably less than a majority of the vote.
GOVERNOR Cayetano has invoked the U.S. alliance with South Korea as an argument in favor of waiving visas for Korean visitors. The governor's interest is understandable, because Hawaii tourism could benefit from such waivers, and Hawaii's congressional delegation has been trying to win approval for them. But his argument is flawed. Visas for Koreans
Cayetano said Congress' refusal to include South Korea among the countries granted visa waivers for tourists is an insult to a friend and ally. He noted that more than 50,000 Americans died in the Korean War and the U.S. has 37,000 troops defending South Korea. "We shared blood with this country. It's our ally. Why should we treat them as second-class citizens, as a second-class ally?" the governor asked.
But there's more to this issue than loyalty to a friend. The federal government maintains statistics by country on the number of visa applications that are rejected. Korea's rate of refusal is higher than the standard for admission to the visa waiver program.
At a hearing on the issue, a State Department official testified that objective criteria such as the refusal rate have maintained the integrity of the program. Waiving visas deprives the government of the power to exclude undesirables, such as persons with criminal records or those suspected of an intent to violate the terms of their visas.
Senator Inouye has proposed a pilot program under which Korean tourist groups would be admitted without visas. Participants would be required to buy round-trip tickets and the travel agents would have to post bonds. If approved, that could be an improvement. But invoking the Korean War isn't going to work.
BELARUS, the former Soviet republic that hoped for reunification with Russia, has been rebuffed. President Boris Yeltsin has canceled a trip to Russia by Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko in a dramatic fashion that carries broad implications for the direction of Russia beyond Yeltsin's term of office. The reformers, without question, are in charge at the Kremlin and plan to remain there. Yeltsin snub of Belarus
Liberals were disturbed and communists were delighted in April when Yeltsin agreed to a treaty with Belarus that called for economic reunification, despite Minsk's distaste for economic reform and its human rights violations. Lubashenko has publicly longed for a return to the Soviet system. Concern escalated two months ago when a Russian television crew was detained by Belarussian authorities after the telecast of a report filmed at the border with Lithuania. Amnesty International called the crew "prisoners of conscience," and Yeltsin said he might review the treaty if the journalists were not released.
Last week, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Boris Nemtsov, the Kremlin's leading reformer, likened the prospect of Russian-Belarussian economic unification with that of North and South Korea or of Cuba and Florida. "You cannot integrate the economies of Russia and Belarus, whose economic fundamentals differ," Nemtsov said.
Then, as Lukashenko was preparing for a trip to Moscow, Yeltsin canceled the flight, stranding Lukashenko at the Minsk airport for three hours, because TV journalist Pavel Sheremet had not been released. With Nemtsov at his side, Yeltsin made the pronouncement at Nizhny Novgorod, capital of the region that Nemtsov had made a privatization model while governor.
The youthful and telegenic Nemtsov is considered a leading candidate to succeed Yeltsin as president. He clearly has Yeltsin's ear and, by all appearances, his blessing to keep Russia on its present course.
Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
