MARCOS AIDE ALMOST AS INFLUENTIAL AS EVER

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605280005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 2, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: July 9, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605280005-9
9
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 'ONITOP
9 July 1985
diT7 T7, ~1 1[$ 1,
Marcos aide o growing power.
"The promotions are a concession by the President to
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pacify Ramos " the office
aid ?' A
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r s
.
as influential as ever office assumption that Ver will soon beJ returning to
Ver has made no effort to hide his desire to return to
General Ver, though officially on his post of chief of staff. He expects to do so within the
next few months, when, as many expect, charges
leave, continues to wield power against him as an accomplice in the Aquino case will be
"Acquital is not-enough for Ver " says
By Paul Quinn-Judge his defense lawyer; Antonio Coronel. "He
Special to The Chnstian Science Monitor will only feel fully vindicated when he is
Bangkok, Thailww reinstated."
Officially, Gen. Fabian Ver - Philippine armed The expectation - or hope - among
forces chief of staff, and President Ferdinand Marcos's many military officers, Filipino opposi-
relative, bodyguard, and alter ego - is on leave while he tion figures, and in the United States, is
stands trial for complicity in the assassination of oppo- that Ver will retire gracefully soon after
sition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. reinstatement.
In reality, informed military sources say, he is almost However, Sources close to Ver appar-
as active and influential as ever. ently feel that he is not particularly
General Ver still controls the country's largest intelli- enamored with this idea. President
gence organization (one of his sons controls another); he Marcos is reportedly committed to the
still plays an active role in assuring the President's per- reinstatement of his old friend, but prob-
sonal security; and his proteges still obtain the lion's ably would change his mind if he felt that
share of top-level military promotions. the political cost was too high.
In October 1984, a fact-finding board investigating But, attorney Coronel says, "the Presi-
the assassination of Mr. Aquino, who was shot on arri- dent may need Ver in another role - a
val at Manila International Airport in August 1983, ac- ministerial position, perhaps." Other ru-
cused Ver and the country's intelligence community of mors have suggested that Ver would even-
complicity in the murder. tually be given an ambassadorship.
Ver took leave, reportedly at the President's instruc- Sources close to presidential palace
tions though officially of his own volition, from his chief make little effort to hide their dislike for
of staff position. He was succeeded by Lt. Gen. Fidel Ver's rival, General Ramos.
Ramos, another relative of the President but a rival of "Ramos has lost a lot of yardage with
Ver. the President recently," said one palace
Nonetheless Ver continues to live in the grounds of source. "He's let his ambitions show."
Malacanang, the presidential palace, and still has virtu- There has been some speculation that
ally unlimited access to the President, military sources Ramos would make a satisfactory succes-
say. The sources add that he works almost daily in the sor to Marcos: some US officials, among
office of the National Intelligence and ecurity Author- others, are thought to favor this solution.
itv IN A), the country's ar~gest intelligence outfit If and when Ver retires, most observ-
Theoretically Ver relinquished the director-general- ers feel that Ramos will be retired at the
ship of NISA after the publication of the fact-finding same time. Ver's favorite as successor is
board's report: in fact, military sources say, he still runs thought to be Philippine Army com-
the agency. One of NISA's lesser functions is to act as mander Gen. Josephus Ramas, a long
the "intelligence arm" of the Tanodbayan, the civilian time Ver associate.
body prosecuting Ver and 25 others for the Aquino General Ramas is said to have been
assassination. - consolidating his power during Ver's
Ver's most enduring service to the President is as his leave. Many Ver loyalists reportedly look
bodyguard. He still performs this function, sources to him as their leader. Ramas would, how-
close to the palace say. ever, not be acceptable to many military
While Ver still reportedly controls NISA. two of his officers, including those who are seeking
sons are in charge of what many observers sa is the major reforms in the way the armed forces
Philippines' most powerful security and intelligence are organized and run.
agency, the Presidential Security Command, which is The reformers say that one Ver loyalist
entrusted with protecting the President and his family would be an acceptable compromise: Gen.
Since General Ramos took over as acting chief of Roland Pattugalan. He is viewed by re-
staff, he has been trying to replace generals loyal to Ver form minded officers as a "professional
with his own appointees, sources say. He has until re- soldier."
cently been fatally unsuccessful in this. . "He is loyal to Ver," said one reform
Ramos finally obtained advancement for some of his leader, "but his staff are all tested combat
proteges a few weeks ago. But the success of Ramos's officers. We could work with him."
nominees are not viewed by his supporters as a sign of
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/02 : CIA-RDP90-00965R000605280005-9