WORLD

By WILLIAM POMEROY

On February 7, the Filipino people
will vote in a special election for presi-
dent and vice president. They are being
told the election is their chance to ren-
der a verdict on President Marcos. But
many observers believe it is just
another way for the U.S. to maintain its
dominance over the Philippines.

Marcos and running-mate Arturo To-
lentino on the Kilusan Bagong Lipman
(New Society Movement) ticket, are
opposed by Corazon Aquino, widow of
the assassinated Benigno Aquino, and
Salvador Laurel under the banner of
the United National Democratic Organ-
ization (UNIDO).

Western news services are depicting
the election as a contest between a dic-
tatorial tyrant — Marcos — and an
honest, if politically inexperienced,
Mrs. Aquino, who stands for restoring
democracy to the Philippines.

The Reagan administration is credit-
ed with playing a mediating role to bring
te about the elections.

But is this concern for democracy or
is his administration acting to stop the
slide into political instability and social
upheaval that threatens U.S. interests
there?

~The U.S: has nothing to lose and
much to gain from the election. If Mar-
cos wins, the U.S. could go on dealing
with him with a new legitimacy and its
investments and military bases would
be relatively secure.

If the Aquino-Laurel team wins,

tis NM AS ME Ad ea Shs GM

“The electoral battle may lie between
Marcos and the opposition candidates,
but the political ‘war’ is already decided
in favor of U.S. political and economic
interests’, says the Communist Party of
the Philippines.

U.S. influence was a factor in bring-
ing about unity at the last minute in
UNIDO, preventing Ms. Aquino and
Laurel from running separately.

The other major factor was the in-
fluence of the powerful Catholic
Church backing Ms. Aquino.

The so-called Communist Party of
the Philippines and its New Peoples
Army are supporting Ms. Aquino. The
CPP-NPA, originally set up in 1968 was

Philippine vote: a political set-up?

Ms. Aquino said she would grant
amnesty to the CPP*NPA and even
welcome it into her government.

The genuine 55-year-old Partido
Komunista ng Pilipinas has been taking
quite a different, independent, position
on the election. In a statement issued at
the time of the Marcos announcement
that an election would be held, the PKP
said, ‘‘The main issue is not whether
Marcos will win or not. The real ques-
tions are: Who stands to gain from the
snap (quickly called — Ed) election?
Who stands to lose? From the stand-
point of the national interest, it is U.S.
imperialism that will gain heavily.

‘The presidential poll will provide a
convenient facade of democratic rule; it

will revive illusions of meaningaa F
changes for the better; it willserveasan —
exhaust valve for the simmering discon- —
tent of the people against the pre-set _
political set-up. The electoral battle —
may lie between Marcos and the oppos~ —
ition candidates but the political ‘war’ j
already decided in favor of U.S. poli-
tical and economic interests.” y

The PKP said the election period is —
‘tan opportune time to address the main
issues involved in the contradiction be- —
tween the Filipino people and U.S. im- —
perialism — the issue of national sover
eignty and of genuine economic
independence.”’ It also urged discus-_
sion on the presence of U.S. military
bases.

‘Bulgarian connection’ farce

signs of mental illness, th.

The *‘ Bulgarian connec-
tion’ farce at the Rome
Trial, based on _ the
coached testimony of
Mehmet Ali Agca, a de-
mented Turkish neo-
fascist, recently heard ex-
cerpts from an interview
with mobster Francesco
Pazienza that the whole
story had been invented by
SISMI, Italy’s military in-
telligence:service.

court has refused a q
fence request Agca
given a__ psychiat
examination.

Bulgaria has charged th
trial’s real purpose is
poison relations betwee
states and insists Antong,
not only be freed but hy
innocence be clearly sp

led out.
* ok *

Pazienza followed his
interview, conducted by
Investigating Magistrate

As the bizarre trial
grinds on, Bulgarian citi-

J Add your voice to
mounting internation
protest against this p

tei

U.S. interests would be equally secure
— perhaps even more so, behind the
facade of ‘treform’™’ and ‘democratic
change.”

a Maoist clique, has developed as an
alliance of Maoist and radical Catholic
sectors, with the Catholic influences
becoming increasingly dominant.

Creating for today and tomorrow

MOSCOW — Workers and collective farmers all over
this country are discussing what the Communist Party
economic guidelines will mean for them and their fami-
lies. They know if the targets for the next five-year plan
are to be achieved, it will be mainly as a result of their
labor.

Looking at the larger perspective, the period from
1986 to the year 2000, they realize that what is proposed
is a truly gigantic undertaking. Its success could bring
them close to the threshold of communism, the most
advanced stage of socialism, in which each will receive
according to need and contribute according to ability.

As to the Five Year Plan, its main goal is to ensure the
further satisfaction of the people’s material and cultural
needs. It is envisaged that the supply of foodstuffs and
other consumer goods will increase, and that the quality
will be improved. The network of modern shopping
facilities (including self-service establishments and what
we call neighborhood convenience stores) will be greatly
expanded, along with facilities for shopping at the work
places. All this, it is frankly stated, should drastically
reduce the time spent shopping for necessities.

While monthly earnings for workers and office
employees are to go up by 13 to 15 per cent, those for
collective farmers are to rise by 18 to 20 per cent, thus
furthering the process of bringing the countryside up to
the level of the cities. Workers and office employees
employed on second and third shifts are to receive higher
premiums.

Measures already under way for raising salaries of
teachers and other education employees will be com-
pleted. Workers at scientific research establishments
and design and technological organizations will be better
paid. The public education system is to be improved in
order to provide a higher quality of instruction and better
training of specialists in every field. The level of the
ideological and political, labor, moral and aesthetic edu-

8 e PACIFIC TRIBUNE, FEBRUARY 5, 1986 ©

Martella in the mobster’s
New York jail cell, with a
letter to French lawyer
Christian Roulette in
which he repeated his
story.

zen Sergei Antonov’s fate
rests entirely on the “‘cre-
dibility’’ of Agca, a wit-
ness whose rantings have
embarrassed the prosecu-
tion. But, despite obvious

vocative travesty of just CY
Send a letter or wire ¢q:
Premier Bettino Cray)
Prime Minister of Italy’
Palazzo Chigi, Piazzo C
onna 370, Rome, Italy.

- improved.

From Moscow
Jack Phillips

cation of the rising generation and their preparation for
socially useful work will be raised.

There will be increased help to families with children
and there will be an improvement in the working condi-
tions and amenities in the everyday life of working wo-
men. Work collectives will be provided with more favor-
able opportunities to satisfy the housing needs of their
members. Young families will be given broader
privileges to join housebuilding co-operatives and to
build individual homes. There will be a marked
improvement in available opportunities for leisure and
free time activities.

Within the next few years, the problem of providing
accommodation for all children at pre-school establish-
ments will be solved. The network of extended day
schools (where children of working parents are accom-
modated after the instruction period) will be extended.

The pension system will be improved. Minimum old
age pensions for workers and collective farmers will rise.
Social services and amenities for pensioners, including
war veterans and labor veterans, will be expanded. Ser-
vices offered by trade, public catering, public health
establishments and community service organizations to
single old and disabled citizens in their pomes will be

In the public health system, there will be more em,
phasis on disease prevention and the quality of medicg
service. More hospital beds will be provided and th
gradual introduction of annual checkups for everyo
will begin.

The network of district cultural establishments an,
houses of culture (comunity centers), particularly in ney
urban, residential areas and in the countryside, will b
enlarged. The artistic level of motion pictures, pla
concert programs and art exhibitions, already very hig
is to be enhanced. Greater efforts will be made to dra)
young people into amateur art and cultural activitie

The implementation of the guidelines in their final
amended form after the party congress will be accom
plished by the people themselves. No secret is made ¢
the fact that such a grand program can be achieved on
by the combined efforts of the working people, manage
ment, the government at different levels and the pop
organizations of the people. They must manage
economy with great skill and with a thrifty approac
available human and material resources and the high
possible utilization of modern science and technol

The human factor is highlighted as the key to unlock)
ing the door to the intensification and acceleration ¢
production, the material basis for social i improvemen
all down.the line.

The guidelines submitted for universal discussion co I
tain this formulation: ‘‘What should be done in the fir
place is to activate fully the principal, essential
inexhaustible reserve which consists in the human fe
tor, in ensuring good organization, discipline
order.’ From what I have seen here, the Soviet peop
are prepared to accept that challenge, because thi
know that what they create, what they build, will mei al
better life for themselves and their families.