It was clever: Dog sent to sniff out Marcos 'tuta' (Last of a series that ran Nov. 7-14, 2010)

ARMED OPTION: The meeting with a Kuomintang group from Taiwan offering aid to Filipino patriots willing to rise against the Marcos dictatorship left Ninoy Aquino in deep thought as we drove back to their house in Newton.

Like other victims of martial rule, he understood why democrats from other countries were anxious to help us shake off the Marcos yoke. But accepting donated weapons that would be fired against fellow Filipinos was something else.

Besides, nobody had a good guess of how many Filipinos were willing to put their lives on the line if there was a call for an armed confrontation with the forces of Marcos.

*      *      *

ALL TALK: Other Filipino leaders in exile plotting to depose Marcos had been caught in the same dilemma.

Former Manila Mayor Antonio J. Villegas was one. In my conversations with him in Reno, Nevada, and during his visits to San Francisco, he recounted meetings with oppositionists in the US on how to topple Marcos.

He said he stopped attending the caucuses after he got tired of the endless talk that did not progress to concrete action. He was willing to help finance a fighting force, he said, but nobody could produce a feasible action plan.

Before martial rule was imposed in 1972, the mayor hurriedly left Manila after being tipped off by his US embassy friends of possible trouble. He said they also assisted him in moving some assets and getting established in the West Coast.

*      *      *

NINOY’S ROLE: The US using local politicians as pawns is well known. I asked Ninoy when we were back in the house if there were indications that the power brokers in Washington were sort of preparing him for a key post-Marcos role.

He said he did not see any clear indication, adding that he sometimes felt he was merely being kept in reserve, if ever. He expressed deep disappointment with the US’s continued coddling of Marcos.

That was in 1982, when US President Ronald Reagan was apparently still satisfied with their man in Malacañang.

It was only in 1985, when an angry wave was about to sweep the dictator off his throne of bayonets, that Reagan — through “First Friend” Sen. Paul Laxalt of Nevada — told the ailing Marcos to “cut and cut cleanly.” Sixteen hours later, the US military hustled him off to Hawaii.

Before that, Reagan was holding off discarding Marcos like a dirty rag. When the US finally dropped him after decades of being useful, the dejected pawn could only mutter after the call of Laxalt, “I’m so very disappointed.”

*      *      *

SECURITY DETAIL: Did Ninoy ever suspect that he was being used in a high-stakes game? He said that State officials discussed now and then some options, but their intentions and his role in the scenarios were not that clear to him.

It was awkward to ask if the US was giving him money for his family’s upkeep, so I ended up merely asking if the Americans were at least providing him security.

Yes, he said, there was an FBI team or a security detail assigned to his family.

“Where are they?” I asked, peering at the trees and glancing down the street. He said they were close enough to be there in minutes if he called.

It helped that he was awarded fellowships at Harvard University, for two years, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for one. He also collected some fees on the lecture circuit.

*      *      *

CONDITION FOR VISIT: My assessment was that at the time Marcos visited the US, he was still the certified American boy and Ninoy was just being used to keep the dictator off-balance and compliant.

In this connection, Washington-based media colleague Bing Cardenas Branigin clarified in an email that martial rule was already lifted when Marcos went visiting in 1982. Its lifting was one of the conditions for the White House’s receiving him.

Updating me, she also reported that a new hotel called Beacon had replaced the Holiday Inn, where — as related in Ching Suva’s book “From Macapagal to Macapagal-Arroyo” — Ninoy sought to renew contact with nervous media friends from Manila.

*      *      *

MARCOS TUTA: Bing mentioned Andrews air force base in Maryland, just south of DC, where Marcos, like most state visitors, arrived in style on Air Force One.

I cannot forget that installation. Before entering the lounge to await Marcos, we were made to go one by one to a dog that sniffed our person and coverage gear that we had to place before it.

It was hilarious: We Marcos tuta (“lapdog,” a tag indiscriminately given those covering the visit) were being cleared by a German shepherd! Only a dog can recognize another canine? Ha, ha, ha!

*      *      *

NO NILO: In Washington, the visiting strongman went through the routine of addressing the National Press Club to present his case.

When we members of the Manila press alighted from our bus to cover the media encounter, we heard what sounded like dogs yelping.

There on the sidewalk was a picket of Raul Manglapus’ commandoes barking at us Marcos tuta, delivering a telling message without saying a word. That was cute.

Marcos’ handlers had scripted that in his NPC speech, he would cite several converts, including Nilo Tayag as a youth radical who had allegedly embraced the New Society. Marcos was to point to a pre-designated spot in the audience and Nilo was supposed to stand as Exhibit A.

Problem was where he pointed, there was no shadow of Nilo. The usual Pinoy wiseacres said he was out shopping, which I doubted.

Anyway… after my Boston detour to Ninoy had made me a sort of a leper in the Marcos media, I decided to disengage and fall off like autumn leaves.

*      *      *

ePOSTSCRIPT: Read past POSTSCRIPTs at www.mani lamail.com. E-mail feedback to [email protected]