Dorothy Friesen is a former church and development worker in the Philippines and author of Critical Choices: A Journey with the Filipino People.
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From the Archives: February 1981
WHAT WOULD it take for martial law to be lifted and a genuine democracy to be instituted in the Philippines? The obvious barrier to democracy is the economic stranglehold foreign corporations have on the country and the control the U.S. government exercises through its military and economic aid and military bases. ...
The national foreign debt of the Philippines approaches $11 billion and continues to mount. The country must keep producing Barbie dolls and planting pineapples and bananas on prime land to raise enough foreign exchange to pay the interest on its foreign debt.
Martial Law By Any Other Name
In two well-publicized speeches last December, President Ferdinand Marcos declared that he would soon lift martial law in the Philippines, perhaps by the end of January.