Rogue Generals: A Different Post-EDSA Uno Philippines TL

[gillan1220]

Dec 10, 2020 5:34:18 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Oplan Bojinka might happen on a different scale, but the junta might have tightened security around the country. You could see a bigger clash in Mindanao as a result of a larger uprising by the Muslim population there.

Pop culture will be completely dark in the Philippines because there might be more censorship from the junta there, but conversely you could see a larger exodus of Filipino actors and actressed fleeing overseas. I could also say that the Philippine national men's football team will definitely be gutted due to the dual nationals choosing not to play for the Philippines (ie: Michael Falkesgaard choosing to play for Denmark in the senior level of his international career and Stephan Schrock opting to represent Germany).

There might also be some minor retcons and edits in previous chapters as well.

Basketball will also take a beating and Philippine TV, music, and movies will be very unrecognizable from our timeline's perspectives. Due to censorship, the Philippines would not have the biggest and largest Facebook user statistics.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Facebook might be completely different with the Winklevoss Twins and one of Zuckerberg’s business partners having a larger role. Not even sure if Zuckerberg might even be prominent in here.

Basketball will definitely be horrible to watch, with the Philippine basketball players fleeing to places like the US and Australia, despite the potential backlash. You might see more Filipino basketball players in the NBA than PBA. Pacquiao might not even become a boxing icon here though, so that is a frightening scenario in itself.

The next update will be dealing with hints of what the junta will be like in how they will deal with the possible sanctions imposed on them. Keep in mind that we are still at 1986, so Suharto is still president here. Indonesia will definitely change as a result of the junta, plus a more aggressive China might be viewed with hostility by the international community that it would have an effect on the WTO.

[gillan1220]

Dec 10, 2020 7:23:10 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Facebook might be completely different with the Winklevoss Twins and one of Zuckerberg’s business partners having a larger role. Not even sure if Zuckerberg might even be prominent in here.

Basketball will definitely be horrible to watch, with the Philippine basketball players fleeing to places like the US and Australia, despite the potential backlash. You might see more Filipino basketball players in the NBA than PBA. Pacquiao might not even become a boxing icon here though, so that is a frightening scenario in itself.

The next update will be dealing with hints of what the junta will be like in how they will deal with the possible sanctions imposed on them. Keep in mind that we are still at 1986, so Suharto is still president here. Indonesia will definitely change as a result of the junta, plus a more aggressive China might be viewed with hostility by the international community that it would have an effect on the WTO.

China in the 1980s-1990s didn't have a blue water navy yet. It would only be around mid-90s to 2000s in OTL when China had the power to project beyond the littoral borders. So I'm guessing the PLA-N would build more ocean-going ships more between 1986 to present day?

[TheRomanSlayer]

True, but as they have shown IOTL, the PLA-N was still strong enough to take one of the contested islands in the seas with two names (in this case it was the Johnson South Reef owned by Vietnam), even with a limited amount of ships in their disposal. What we will see is a larger Chinese military presence in said region, and I would not be surprised if in the future there would be another potential border clash between China and Vietnam.

Indonesia on the other hand, might position itself as another potential ally of the junta, and in fact they would also benefit from skirting with international sanctions unless the UN imposes their sanctions on the Indonesian government, which might also lead to an Indonesian Tadiar waiting in the wings.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Three: The Deal Made with the Devil


Excerpts from the Documentary “From Marcos to Tadiar: A Half-Century of Democratic Failure”
By: SBS World Movies – Documentary, filmed December 13, 2018


With the crackdown on the protesters resulting in the major backlash from the pro-democracy forces seeking to depose President Marcos, the addition of Juan Ponce Enrile and Fidel Ramos to the Aquino camp had not dampened the mood of the people, as the military was still at odds with one another. The rest of the Philippine Marines had grown resentful of General Ver’s treatment of Colonel Tadiar, and when news of his role in the release of Majors Aromin and Doromal was leaked to the public, General Ver threatened to put the wayward colonel under a court martial. By this time, large segments of the military had thought about defecting to the opposition, but that was before Tadiar decided to bring in the two freed coup plotters into his fold, creating the nucleus of what will become the Council for National Sovereignty. Having won the coup plotters into his fold, Tadiar would then launch his campaign to win over to his side many skeptical military personnel of the Philippine military that have either remained loyal to the embattled President or have not defected to the Aquino faction yet but are in the process of doing so.


The international reaction to the violent crackdown was predictable in the West, with the United States condemning the murder of innocent civilians at the hands of Tadiar’s Marines and the European Economic Community’s suggestion on imposing an arms embargo on the Philippine government until Tadiar would be brought to justice. In the Eastern Bloc, there was a unified voice in favor of condemnation against the atrocities, with the Soviet government choosing to remain neutral in the affair. However, it was the People’s Republic of China who gave the loudest criticism of the so-called assault on the people’s will of desire for democracy that eventually rang hollow when three years later, the People’s Liberation Army would enact the same kind of massacre upon peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, but on a larger scale. Not surprisingly, there was only one country that supported the mass murder of civilians, and that was surprisingly enough, Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile. Having been subjected to a humiliating invasive search carried out by the Fijian military while his plane stopped over in Fiji to refuel on his way to the Philippines, President Marcos was pressured by the United States government to cancel General Pinochet’s visit to the country. It was not until 1989 that the newly promoted Brigadier General Tadiar would personally pay a visit to Chile in his first foreign trip of his whole life to apologize to the General for the treatment he received while in Fiji. Tadiar and Pinochet would re-establish diplomatic ties in July of 1989, with Pinochet’s offer to not only retrain the Philippine military, but to reform it with the overhauling of the military training system by sending Chilean military officers to teach their Philippine colleagues while Chilean soldiers would be invited to learn the ways of jungle warfare from their Philippine counterparts.


Although the arms embargo was kept in place, it was not until 1995 when the Chinese government had authorized the blatant aggressive excursion of its navy into the South China Sea that the West realized its folly. While they had to punish the CNS for its human rights violations, they realized that if the Philippines remained militarily weak, it was vulnerable to Chinese military aggression, as both the Western governments and the Philippine junta learned the hard way when the Chinese Navy and its naval infantry had not only attacked the other islands in the South China Sea owned by communist Vietnam, but had seized Scarborough Shoal, only two hundred miles off the coast of Luzon. Not only that, but even Malaysia and Indonesia were alarmed at the increased Chinese military activity in the region. Thus, a bizarre deal was made where the reunified German Federal Republic would sell the equipment inherited from the former East German military to both Chile and Turkey (until 1996 when the United Nations would lift its arms embargo on the Philippines and imposed a new arms embargo on Chile), and then they would re-sell the donated equipment to the Philippines in exchange for valuable goods. Consequently, the United Nations had also imposed economic sanctions on the Philippines as early as 1990 due to its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, with the imprisonment of Corazon Aquino, the short-lived heroine of the EDSA Revolution that saw the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos.


Tadiar’s relations with neighboring Indonesia was a critical factor in its dealings with the Moro secessionist movement in Mindanao, because both the Moro secessionists and the Indonesians could play on the religion card to negotiate with the Philippine junta on the status of the Muslim regions of Mindanao. President Subianto had welcomed the Philippine junta with open arms, seeing them as a good bulwark against communist China that he too, reached out to the Chilean junta for aid in cracking down on the communists who still operate within Indonesian territory. Thus, Indonesia ironically benefited from smuggling goods into the Philippines from overseas, mainly foodstuffs that many Filipinos are sorely lacking due to the huge amount of population needed to be fed. The sanctions imposed on the Philippines had resulted in more Filipinos desperate enough to turn to the junta for solutions, and Tadiar was more than eager to implement what he viewed as ‘necessary changes’ for the good of the nation. Starting in 1996 Tadiar would launch a campaign against the wealthy landowners by increasing taxes on their properties in order to force them to sell their land to the state, and in exchange the junta would either give the sold off lands to desperate farmers, or to sponsor the creation of agro industries. Rice, being the main staple of diet among Filipinos, was kept for domestic consumption. As a result, the Philippines would become the second rice producing nation in the world to forbid the export of its rice crops to international markets after Japan. At the same time, the Philippines continued to increase its food production, with livestock being their focus. Carabao milk was introduced as an alternative dairy beverage to cow’s milk, and while many Filipino children might be skeptical of drinking carabao milk, they have noticed the increase in their nutritional intake, especially calcium. As a result, the junta has emphasized the necessity of raising more carabao, not only for their milk, but for their meat. The international sanctions had also given the junta more creativity when it comes to meeting the demands of the population for alternatives to the foods they would normally eat. Fisheries have tripled their production of fish, while shark meat was proposed as another kind of alternative to other seafoods.


Carabao milk has become a popular beverage with the average Filipino family, as it's not only easier to produce and sell due to the large population of carabao in the Philippines, but it's a better alternative to cow's milk. Because of its valuable commodity, the military junta has forbade the export of carabao milk overseas, making it a rare commodity, though a bit expensive.

The sanctions on the Philippines were not lifted until 2006 when in a surprising announcement, Major (now Colonel) Aromin announced that new elections will be held in ten years’ time. His offer to hold the country’s first free election since 1986 was met with skepticism by the international community until he also made another bold announcement: that the junta will disband in eight years to prepare for the smooth transition into full democracy. Though the international community remained skeptical, the United States was in favor of such proposal because of the growing power of the Chinese economy that their companies saw the benefit of moving some of their production from the US to the Philippines due to lower wages there, despite a fierce backlash from the American working class. Indeed, it was only thanks to former US President Jack Kemp who campaigned during the 1996 Republican Primaries on the platform of keeping China out of the World Trade Organization because of their aggression in the South China Sea. Consequently, Russia was also kept out of the World Trade Organization and was even discouraged from entering due to both General Alexander Lebed’s suspicion towards the West for the lack of aid given to his democratic rebels in the Second Russian Civil War of 1990-1995, and the 2000 Republican Primaries where Republican candidate John McCain had campaigned on a platform of vetoing Russia’s (later the East Slavic Federation's) possible entry into the WTO due to what he calls the Russian occupation of Central Asia and Eastern Ukraine (McCain, like many other American candidates, did not recognize the validity of the ESF merger referendum). Such a push has led the East Slavic Federation and Chinese governments to diversify their own economies, switching from heavy industries to consumer goods and technological equipment. Additionally, the Philippines was also barred from joining the WTO because of the UN sanctions imposed on the country as well, leaving it vulnerable to social instability and Chinese designs.


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Portions from the Interview with Benigno Simeon Aquino
Global News Canada Interview, November 22, 1999

The Interview Regarding the Aquino Family During the 1986 EDSA Revolution

Interviewer: Mr. Aquino, what was your reaction to your late mother’s victory over President Marcos in the 1986 election that was hotly contested amidst the allegations of voter fraud?

Aquino: It was clear that President Marcos would certainly cheat in this election, but the people were fed up with his dictatorship. It was not until February 28 that we learned of armed conflict breaking out between Marcos’s loyalist soldiers and a group of rebel soldiers being commanded by the Butcher of Ortigas Avenue.

Interviewer: You are speaking of Brigadier General Tadiar and his Marines, right?

Aquino: Yes, and he was a colonel at that time, and was promoted to Brigadier General in January of 1987, with the Council for National Sovereignty approving such a promotion.

Interviewer: Your family did not hear much about the rest of the Marcos family until well into April when your mother learned that Tadiar had arrested and imprisoned the late dictator’s family that she insisted on them leaving the Philippines for Hawaii, right?

Aquino: My mother insisted on showing mercy to the Marcos family, but as Tadiar points out, they can still be a source of opposition to the new government if they were kept alive. This issue was what divided my family and Tadiar’s growing junta. We did not realize this until when General Fabian Ver launched his coup against my mother in December of 1986 that our family's influence began to weaken, and Tadiar for some odd reason, chose to disappear. He did not appear on the headlines until February of 1987 when he began to launch his campaign against Ver. There is a reason why some historians have called the conflict between my mother, Colonel Tadiar and General Ver as the Filipino Civil War

Interviewer: As for you and your sister, how do you like Canada so far?

Aquino: Vancouver is not that bad, but my sister and I preferred Whistler because we could easily hide in the town, as opposed to Vancouver, where a lot of Filipinos who fled because of the two dictatorships would often visit us.

Interviewer: (laughs) I see that, and I am glad that you are safe.

Aquino: I also wish to add one more thing though: Tadiar was originally allied to my mother’s faction because of his falling out with Marcos, but once the divide between them was extremely wide, Tadiar too, had a falling out with my mother, and it was not just because of the Marcos family. Tadiar believed that the Philippines is not ready to transition itself into a full democracy due to the conflicts with the communists and the Muslims in Mindanao, which was a convenient excuse he used to launch his own coup, only after finishing off General Ver and his faction. However, even I cannot deny that Tadiar’s methods had resulted in the decrease of communist activities in the country by 86%. It is how he dealt with the activists that is earned the Philippines the UN sanctions it currently has, and I am surprised that the Philippines has kept itself afloat with the amount of food being given to the population.


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Excerpts from “A Nation in Mourning”
By: Arturo Tolentino
Atlas Publishing, published 2002


Chapter Nine: Surprise Attack


By March 1st, the revolution in EDSA was at a standstill. A few days had gone by since the revolution began, and the images of the massacre would not leave the people’s heads, for they lost their fear of death, knowing that if President Marcos would change his mind and start killing people on the streets, they would gladly accept their deaths as a reasonable price for his downfall. I was not surprised that Majors Doromal and Aromin warmed up to Tadiar, who was constantly given intelligence on other military deployments around the National Capital Region, and in places like Cavite and Bulacan. The three leaders went around Manila and Bulacan to talk to the other soldiers who were still taking orders from the President, to see if they can switch sides and join the opposition. To their shock, not only did they refuse to switch sides, but they also threatened to arrest the three of them unless they left.

It was not until they reached Camp Tecson that the famous 1st Scout Ranger Regiment had started to clamour for action against the loyalists. I accompanied the three military leaders inside Camp Tecson where Marcelo Blando was giving instructions to the officers on what to do if the revolution reaches Bulacan. Upon seeing Tadiar and his group approach his table, Blando and the junior officers saluted to him, even though I suspected him of belonging to the Reform the Armed Forces movement. To my relief, Blando welcomed us and offered us refreshments as we followed him inside his office. Three soldiers stood guard in front of the entrance to Blando’s office, allowing us to discuss with him about the future of the country.

“I take it that you will need my help, I suppose,” muttered Blando. While no one spoke back, Blando nodded as he understood what their silence meant. “Tell me why I should not send you four back to the President?”

“Which one?” Major Doromal asked curiously.

“You know, the one that is elected,” Blando replied.

Major Aromin shook his head. “Cory Aquino is elected the rightful president.”

“Not according to the polls,” Blando again replied, but Doromal shook his head.

“The President grows weaker, sir. How long until civil war breaks out between whoever succeeds him and the opposition? Already, we have got reports of defections and mutinies throughout the country, and the Marines are already in rebellion against the President,” Tadiar told Blando, but all he received was a glare.

“We have you to thank for such a fucking disaster in Ortigas Avenue. However, it is all too late, and the President does not have a long time left to live. Very well, I will join your cause.” Blando stood up and looked at the window. “As long as you can give me something in return.”

“What would that be?” I asked first before the other officers.

Blando turned around and stared at us. “Let my men take control of Fort Bonifacio. Let us arrest the President, while Special Forces Regiment will go to Ilocos Norte and seize the governor there,”

“You wish to kill the President and his entire family?” I asked angrily, but Blando shook his head in disagreement.

“No, just to put them under house arrest. We need to impeach him before deciding what to do with him, and I understand that we have no official results so far.” Blando opened the door as the three guards stood aside. “Stay here in this base for now. Give us enough time to mobilize our own soldiers and we will push for Malacanang Palace.”

Marching straight to Malacanang Palace was not easy, with loyalist soldiers patrolling the streets and the civilian protesters continuing to chant for Marcos to step down. While we waited for Blando’s men to prepare themselves for battle, Tadiar sat in Blando’s office with Doromal and Aromin at his side. They beckoned for me to sit down as well, knowing that I am the only civilian figure that they could realistically use should they try to form their own government.

“We need to take care of Ver first. He is the only obstacle that will pose a danger to us. Shoot the General and the rest of the officers will fall in line,” Tadiar advised Doromal. “We also need to attack Malacanang at night. They won’t expect us to attack them.”

Doromal shook his head in disagreement. “They will actually expect that to happen. The last time I heard, they have tripled the security around Malacanang, and that was before we left.”

“Still, what about the Navy and Air Force?” I asked back.

“The 15th Strike Wing is prepared to assault the palace, and the Navy has four vessels patrolling Manila Bay. Their officers have already switched sides to us, so don’t worry about it,” Tadiar replied back. “Most of the navy officers are also fed up with Marcos as well, and a familiar face will gladden them.”

“So, let’s do it then,” I replied.

At 1900 hours, or 7 PM in civilian time, the entirety of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment were loaded on the truck with the four officers inside another truck while I sat down beside Tadiar. Although the journey through the North Luzon Expressway was uneventful, with much of the traffic having gone already, our troops found it easier to reach Manila, but upon arriving at Valenzuela, we were stopped by a sentry. We cursed our luck, for the sentry was a loyalist soldier. I did not hear much from the commotion, but luckily Major Aromin had drugged the sentry and replaced him with one of his own soldiers, but not before changing the fatigues first. Once the disguised soldier stood at attention, Major Doromal put the disguised soldier’s original fatigues on the drugged sentry, and we were on our way. Much of EDSA was still crowded, so we had to go through Rizal Avenue and the LRT line. We followed it until turning left at United Nations Avenue and made another left turn at Quirino Avenue Extension. Once we spotted the Malacanang Palace ground across from the Pasig River, we saw another military encampment outside. Although we did pass Fort Santiago, many of the troops there had sworn their loyalty to the Aquino faction, and thus they let us pass. Once ten of Blando’s troops crossed the Pasig in a boat they requisitioned from a fisherman, they crossed and arrived at the banks. I saw the first smoke grenade being detonated as another soldier deployed tear gas, allowing the rest of the troops inside their trucks to move across the river and began to fire on the loyalist guards.

The skirmish only lasted thirty minutes before the loyalist guards raised their hands in surrender, while Major Doromal took charge of the temporary prisoners. Colonel Tadiar and another five soldiers entered Malacanang, only to meet up with the Marines who were originally with him in Ortigas Avenue and entered the palace itself. Luckily for us, General Ver approached us with a gun in his hand, only for Tadiar to shoot it out of his hand. Ver then started to punch the colonel, but not before one of the Marines hit him in the head with the wooden stock of his rifle, causing him to fall on the ground. Once Ver was safely tied up, a group of soldiers led by Aromin entered the president’s personal room to find the President awake and angry.

“What is the meaning of this!?” Macoy shouted. I walked towards him and slapped him. “Fucking traitor. I nominated you as Vice President, and you’ve repaid me with betrayal?”

“As far as I am concerned, our days are over. I just decided to save myself while realizing the futility of our so-called administration.” I beckoned for Tadiar to come closer. “Arrest the President on charges of murder and treason against the republic.”

“You can’t do this to me!” Macoy shouted, but all he received was another hit on his head with the butt of the rifle. Three of our soldiers tied him up and escorted him into the car, while Major Aromin grabbed the telephone.

“Call Mrs. Aquino and tell her that she can come to the Palace. We’ve captured the President.” I left Macoy’s room and sat down outside.

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MARCOS PLACED UNDER ARREST AS COUP LEADERS ALLOW CORY AQUINO AND SUPPORTERS TO COME TO MALACANANG
Manila Times
March 2, 1986


Manila, PHILIPPINES – In a shocking turn of events, President Ferdinand Marcos was placed under arrest by rebel soldiers commanded by disgraced Colonel Artemio Tadiar, with recently freed coup plotters Majors Edgardo Doromal and Saulito Aromin, taking orders from him. Marcelo Blando also joined the other coup plotters in deposing the President, and as of today, President Marcos is kept in confinement at Fort Bonifacio. Fort Bonifacio was also the place where the late Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was confined before his exile to the US and his eventual return and death to the Philippines in August 21 of 1983. Unconfirmed sources also say that the majority of the Philippine Navy and Air Force have severed ties to the President and started to align themselves with both Cory Aquino and Colonel Tadiar.

“We are still looking for the President’s family as we speak,” Colonel Tadiar speaks in front of reporters inside Malacanang Palace. “Even now, the Special Forces Regiment has been deployed to Laoag to arrest Governor Bongbong Marcos, and thirty minutes ago we’ve received an official confirmation from Colonel Jose Lapus that the Governor has been arrested and placed under military custody.”

Protesters rejoiced at the sudden downfall of the Marcos dictatorship, but were shocked at just how brazen the military was in arresting him. President Reagan had not commented so far on the recent turn of events, but segments of the US government realized that Marcos was a lost cause and thus congratulated Cory Aquino on her victory over the dictator. Unfortunately, the news of how Marcos was arrested had resulted in the protesters’ demand to exile the ousted dictator and to place the coup plotters under arrest for rebellion, a move that might ultimately be rejected as Tadiar had suddenly become the unlikely backer of Cory Aquino. Although it is not known how long the uneasy coalition between the Aquino faction and Tadiar’s group would hold up, it is known to the public that they are united in their goal of deposing Marcos, which the latter has done so far.

“We are working with Colonel Tadiar and his group on what to do with the President who is locked up in Fort Bonifacio, and we are negotiating for his eventual exile from the Philippines, should he be open minded to the idea,” says Juan Ponce Enrile after talking to Tadiar over the phone minutes after Marcos was arrested. “We don’t want the hotheads within the Reform the Armed Forces movement to take matters into their own hands, so we are preventing President Marcos from being released at this moment.”


Colonel Artemio Tadiar leads a squad of Marines into Malacanang Palace, followed by bystanders as they finished placing President Marcos under arrest, with his transfer to Fort Bonifacio happening in several days.

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JAMES YAP SELECTED 21st PICK, THIRD OVERALL BY TRAIL BLAZERS
Sportsnet PACIFIC
June 25th, 2004


New York City, NEW YORK, USA – In a surprising twist in the 2004 NBA Draft, James Yap of University of California Los Angeles, was chosen by the Portland Trailblazers as their 21st pick, third overall. The exiled Filipino American basketball player, who originally moved to the United States in 1992 along with his family as political refugees fleeing from Brigadier General Tadiar’s military dictatorship, attended Holden High School as a teenager and rose to become one of Holden’s most talented basketball stars. Yap is not much known for his talent other than his leadership and experience in leading his school to three straight basketball tournament finals between 1998 to 2001, with only one championship on his belt. Yap would later attend the University of California Los Angeles after winning a scholarship and being offered a spot there, though it is revealed that during the 2001 basketball tournament held in Holden High, several basketball scouts representing different universities and colleges began to observe several basketball players engaged in the game when the UCLA scout spotted Yap attempt a perfect three pointer from a longer distance.

“We are happy with our selection, and it will be a great pleasure for us to work with James,” says Trail Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks. “Having observed his gameplay in UCLA, we are pleased with his style of play.”

Yap, who plays as a shooting guard and a small forward, is not expected to start for the Trail Blazers anytime soon, as he is still in the middle of his college basketball career. In addition, Yap is also studying Business Management at UCLA with hopes of becoming an entrepreneur in order to take over his family’s growing real estate business in Sacramento, where the Yap family resides. Moreover, Yap is also being scouted by the United States national men’s basketball team for a spot on their roster after the Philippine national men’s basketball team refused to take Yap into their roster because of his family’s political stance against the junta.

“I for one, refuse to honor a regime that has victimized my family. My parents barely survived the junta’s punishment and every day they thanked God for being able to live in the US,” Yap comments in front of international reporters. “If I were to be offered a spot on the US men’s basketball team, I would gladly take it.”

The exodus of athletes in all areas of sports from the Philippines has been a major source of embarrassment for the ruling junta, with Brigadier General Tadiar opting to establish the athletic arm of all branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in hopes of cultivating local talent for athletes to compete in international tournaments. The most prominent of the athletes besides Yap was Richard Alvarez, a Japanese born Filipino basketball player who was also present in the 2004 NBA Draft, and was selected as the 14th pick, 4th overall by the Orlando Magic. Since 1986, the athletic quality of Philippine sports has declined, with more athletes seeking political asylum or publicly displaying their intention to defect to other countries, a scene reminiscent of the Cold War when various athletes from former communist countries have declared their defection to the West. Moreover, the Philippines’ absence from major international sports tournaments has been a constant source of humiliation on Tadiar’s part, resulting in its lackluster performance in most tournaments. Most notably, the Southeast Asian Games of 1987 and 1991 is infamous for the Philippines’ failure to rack more than seventy medals, with a paltry amount of 3 gold medals, 18 silver medals and 15 bronze medals in the 1987 tournament, and a worse record of 0 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 7 bronze medals in the 1991 tournament.

Consequently, the exodus of Filipino basketball players has also contributed to the increased growth of not only the NBA, where Filipino players are competing with American players for the spotlight, but even in other parts of Asia, most notably Japan where ten basketball players had opted to play for Japanese basketball teams without ever representing their adopted homeland in the international arena. In the Filipino diaspora, the presence of their favorite basketball players playing in the NBA has brightened their lives in what they see as a darker time period when their homeland is under another dictatorship.

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YUGOSLAVIA WINS FRIENDLY AGAINST PHILIPPINES IN LOPSIDED FRIENDLY
The Moscow Times
May 12, 2012


Belgrade, FR YUGOSLAVIA – To the surprise of virtually no spectator, the football friendly between Yugoslavia and the Philippines resulted in an 8-0 drubbing by the Yugoslavs as the Philippines continues its worst performance in years. Many Yugoslav players, most notably Dusan Tadic, commented at how their opponents not only played sloppily, but that they lacked any cohesion as a team. The Philippine national men’s football team are consisted of mainly local players who were banned from playing in foreign clubs due to the UN sanctions imposed on the island nation due to human rights violations, which also included travel bans for the country’s entire athletic population. In addition, the Philippines’ worst condition in terms of gameplay has also resulted in them being compared to perennial minnows like San Marino and Lichtenstein, with even Bhutan managing to defeat them 2-1 in another friendly in 2003.

“While we are happy with the win, I don’t think it was a challenging game at all. Our opponents played without any morale at all,” comments Yugoslav coach Aleksandar Jankovic upon asked about the Philippine football team’s performance. “Hopefully when the country opens up to the international community once again, the Philippine football team could have decent coaching and better player development.”

The game was played in Red Star Stadium yesterday, with only 13,215 spectators coming to watch the game, all of whom are local fans, as no supporter of the Philippine national team could travel unless they were seeking political asylum. However, there were hundreds of supporters of the Philippine national team cheering for the team in unusual places like Zagreb, Sarajevo and Tirana, where the Philippine diaspora went to watch their team play in local bars. Albania is fast becoming a popular Balkan destination for the Filipino diaspora in Europe to travel for their vacation, though Croatia and Bosnia are not far behind. However, racial conflicts are sadly common in the Balkan region familiar with ethnic tensions, and reports of local hooligans beating up Filipino tourists are alarming.

“These thugs just came up to us and started making monkey noises before stabbing one of my friends in the stomach,” comments an unnamed Filipino tourist after an altercation with a local hooligan in the streets of Sarajevo. “They just don’t like the sight of us here, and I don’t know why.”

With the upcoming election in the Philippines in 2016, the international community also hopes that with the election of the first non-military candidate, the UN would lift the travel ban on the country, although the lifting of economic sanctions had already been carried out back in 2003, resulting in a trickle of foreign investments into the country. The lifting of the travel ban would also have a positive effect of bringing in foreign coaches, player developers and physiotherapists into a nation that while boasting one of the most populous medical nurses and doctors in the world, has a lack of international experience. For some football players, a potential rematch with the Philippines is something they are looking forward to, after the entire football association is reformed with foreign coaches taking charge.

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YOUNGER BROTHER OF LATE DICTATOR THROWS SUPPORT BEHIND LOREN LEGARDA FOR PRESIDENCY
Manila Times
February 26th, 2016


Malabon, RIZAL – In a shocking turn of events, the younger brother of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Pacifico Marcos, has thrown his support behind Loren Legarda, the candidate representing a newly established political party, the National Unity Coalition. Pacifico Marcos was not well known other than being the younger brother of the late dictator until after 1986 when he came into the spotlight and promised to show neutrality in politics. His neutrality, along with his political naivety and his role as the CEO of Bagumbayan Corporation, had resulted in Major General Tadiar’s decision to leave him alone. Unfortunately, not much was known about Pacifico other than his confession to his elder brother’s accumulated wealth, which he promised to turn over to the Philippine state as an apology for the dictatorship.

“Hopefully with the help of Loren Legarda, we can start recovering the wealth that my brother and his family has accumulated over the years. The fact that I wasn’t aware of this kind of scandal is forever a stain on our family’s honor,” says Pacifico in front of Legarda’s supporters during a rally in Lemery, Batangas. “I don’t have much time left in my life, so what I want to do is to spearhead the efforts to start recovering my brother’s ill-gotten wealth.”

Pacifico Marcos had lived through the junta that then-Colonel Tadiar had imposed on the country after Corazon Aquino’s failed attempts to rein in the military officers who were fed up with her weakened stance. The death of his elder brother in 1988 inside Fort Bonifacio was the only source of tension between the younger Marcos and the military junta, although Tadiar himself tried to offer him a position in the junta, only for Pacifico to decline, fearing that he would go down the same path as the elder Marcos. At the same time, Pacifico has forbade his own children and grandchildren from entering politics, lest they end up adding any more disgrace to the family name than they’ve already done with elder brother Ferdinand.

----

Previous Chapter: Chapter Two
Next Chapter: Chapter Four

[stevep]

 TheRomanSlayer ,

  So we're had a civil war in Russia which was won by 'democrats' under Lebed who have seen occupied by force much/all of Central Asia and parts of Ukraine.  Yugoslavia still exists, which is an interesting change on events.  China is more isolated because it is more aggressive but that hasn't stopped it becoming a major economic power, although possibly not as dramatically as OTL?

  I'm rather surprised that Aquino was willing to try and work with Tadiar but not that it turned out disastrously given his attitude and lack of morals.

  Steve

[TheRomanSlayer]

On China: China's economy might grow a little slower, and with the lack of connections to the WTO as a result of being barred from joining, they might be forced to look elsewhere, or to form an alternative version to the WTO. We might even see the Belt and Road Initiative arise much earlier.

Yugoslavia would still exist, albeit in its truncated form. However, I could see that the events leading to the Yugoslav Civil War may somehow be butterflied or arise from a different event.

With regards to Russia, I'm not sure how the Second Russian Civil War will play out, but I can predict that it might be worse than the OTL Yugoslav Civil War due to the addition of nuclear weapons. What I can say though, is that Lebed and the rebels might view the West and China with some suspicion before being forced to choose between the two of them.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Four: An Uneasy Coalition



CORY AQUINO SWORN IN AS PRESIDENT, MARCOS STILL INCARCERATED AT FORT BONIFACIO
The Manila Times
March 6, 1986


Manila, PHILIPPINES – Corazon Aquino was sworn in today as the 11th President of the Philippines, following the incarceration of her predecessor Ferdinand Marcos, amidst the celebrations in EDSA from the news of a new President. Upon swearing the oath, newly inaugurated President Aquino met with the military leadership and promised to hold further talks on the de-politicization of the armed forces, as one of the key goals of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement. However, her first hours in office have already been marred by the cold relationship between herself and Colonel Tadiar, who was the main key player in the ouster of former President Marcos.


“The new administration will carry out the necessary tasks of bringing to justice those who benefited from the dictatorship in our country, and we will also implement a new constitution to make sure that we do not have another situation where a President will be allowed to rule more than one term,” explains President Aquino in front of her supporters in Malacanang Palace.


It is not yet clear as to who she will select in her key positions of government, although former Vice President Arturo Tolentino is confirmed to step down from his position and hand it over to Salvador Laurel. It is also confirmed however, that Mr. Tolentino will retire to his home in Quezon City to write a memoir of his years during the Marcos period. Colonel Tadiar on the other hand, will retain his position as Colonel within the Philippine Marines, although President Aquino will send him and his unit to Mindanao to negotiate with the Moro secessionists on the status of the Muslim population in Mindanao.


“Our mission in Manila is over, but our war against the separatists and the communists continue. It has not been finished yet, so we still have a war to wage,” Colonel Tadiar says in front of international reporters during a briefing just outside the Malacanang Palace grounds. “We also have several of our soldiers guarding the former president, which is just as important as bringing the war to the communists.”


A televised caption depicting the inauguration of Corazon Aquino as the 11th President of the Philippines. Though the EDSA Revolution did succeed in deposing Ferdinand Marcos, it was also a bloody affair as the victims were killed in Ortigas Avenue by Colonel Tadiar's Marines.

---



Excerpts from “The Collapsing Light at the End of the Tunnel: The Brutal Post-Marcos Dictatorship”
By: Miriam Defensor Santiago
ANU Press, published 2001


Chapter Five: Prelude to Tragedy


I was stunned by the speed of President Marcos’s downfall, but I should not be surprised at how the military took matters into their own hands. Colonel Tadiar by now, had garnered enough fame for the people to know him, and none of the population had anything good to say about the colonel who allowed his soldiers to kill civilians on Ortigas Avenue. Too many families now must mourn their loved ones who died for the cause of democracy. I cried in my sleep, knowing that President Aquino must console the victims’ families. I never realized that the start of the post-Marcos era would be stained with the blood of demonstrators seeking the end of Marcos’s tyranny. I did not know what to do with my career yet, until one day I was summoned to Malacanang Palace by President Aquino herself. Once I arrived there, she invited me over for lunch in the palace lawns and her guards stood there to make sure there was no assassination attempt on her life.


Malacanang Palace changed a bit from when Marcos was President. Now that his arrogant wife joined him in Fort Bonifacio, and his children under house arrest in Ilocos Norte, the Aquino family began to come alive once again as Cory’s own children made the mano po (1) sign when approaching me. I chuckled as I patted her young son Noynoy, as she called him. There were his sisters too, Kristine being the most prominent of them. While they understood well what their father sacrificed his life for, I could not help but feel horrified that if Tadiar is able to get away with arresting and locking up the entire Marcos family, imagine what he might do to the Aquino family if he decided to seize power himself.


“The longganisa is delicious! Where did you buy this?” I asked as I took a bite out of the red longganisa. “Napakasarap ang itong longganisa. Gusto ko mabili ito nasa palengke.” (2)


“There is a local market where they sell these,” Cory replied while eating her own food as well. “But that is not the reason for me to summon you into Malacanang. I’m here because I’m impressed with the work you’ve done in the courts as a judge.”


I nodded. “Too many cases were being filed every day, and the lawyers often complain of their cases not being met in time.”


“I agree, and most of those cases are political in nature.” Cory looked over the Pasig River and frowned. “What is your opinion of the Bureau for Immigration and Deportation?”


I shook my head in disgust. “They’re the most corrupt organization in the world. Even when President Marcos was around, he allowed criminal groups to flourish in our soil, the Yakuza and Triads being the most notorious of them, and they even had gun battles that killed innocent civilians.”


“I asked you that because I’m thinking of appointing you as Immigration Commissioner,” Cory explained. I gasped in surprise. “Other than that, there are also many positions in my cabinet that you would be qualified for.”


“Madam President, while I’m happy for your offer, I’m not sure who would take over my job in Manila if I joined your cabinet,” I replied with astonishment. “Many of my subordinates are still being trained as judges, and my lawyers’ complaints are getting louder.”


Cory grumbled. “In that case, my suggestion would be to find out which cases are political, and which cases are criminal in nature. No doubt that my predecessor has stacked the files with political prisoners. I will issue pardons for the activists then.”


“Thank you very much, Madam President. Maybe I will take up your offer on the position as the Immigration Commissioner when I am finished training my subordinates,” I told her and shook her hand. “If I will give you some advice though, Madam President.”


“What would that be?” Cory replied, curious about my advice.


“Do not trust Colonel Tadiar. He is a slippery snake who can easily jump on your weakness to pull off the same stunt he did against President Marcos.”


---

INDIAN POLITICIAN KILLED IN VANCOUVER AS CANADIAN INTELLIGENCE UNDER SCRUTINY FOR FAILURE TO NOTIFY LOCAL AUTHORITIES ON POSSIBLE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
The Province
May 26, 1986


Gold River, VANCOUVER ISLAND – In what is viewed as the most brazen murder attempt on a foreign politician, the Indian Planning Minister for Punjab, Malkiat Singh Sidhu, was assassinated by four individuals connected to an extremist organization responsible for the Air India bombing incident back in 1985. Mr. Sidhu was visiting Canada on a private matter and did not announce his arrival to immigration authorities, leading to Canadian intelligence agents’ negligence that resulted in such a tragedy. Meanwhile, Canada’s own Sikh community was deeply divided over the assassination incident, with the moderates getting into fights with the extremists. All four of the assassins were arrested and remanded to police custody, pending a trial.


“What happened to Mr. Sidhu is regrettable, but it is our failure to communicate with the victim that has led to this tragedy,” one of the RCMP officers said on condition of anonymity, fearing a potential retaliation from the extremists. “The suspects will be tried in the Supreme Court of Canada, and my condolences goes to the victim’s family.”


The assassination is a part of the ongoing rebellion in the Indian controlled Punjab province, where the hotbed of Sikh separatism is located. The Sikh separatists are fighting to create a new homeland for their Sikh majority called Khalistan. The Khalistan movement has also divided Sikh communities outside India, with Canada and Australia being the most prominent of them. In addition, many more Sikh extremists within Canada have been charged with illegal possession of weapons and explosives, as well as attempted murder of another moderate Sikh.


---

TURKISH, AMERICAN OIL COMPANIES, EYE ALEGRIA OIL FIELD FOR MASSIVE OIL PROJECT AMIDST LIFTING OF SANCTIONS
The Herald Sun
July 15, 2006


CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES – The race to see who would become the first nation to invest in a cash starved Philippine economy was already on once the rest of the economic sanctions were officially lifted by the UN on May 27th, 2006, with promises of new elections for a potential transfer of power from the military junta to a civilian led government. The first nation to begin negotiations for a foreign direct investment in the Philippine economy was Turkey, with the Turkish company Çalik Enerji, partnering with the American company Unocal Corporation, sending a proposal for a joint oil exploration and production project in the newly discovered Alegria Oil Field, just outside Cebu City.


“This is a rare opportunity for our company to undertake this great investment in such a project,” a spokesperson for Çalik Enerji replied in front of reporters. “We’re also waiting for an opportunity for further economic projects that will benefit our client country.”


It is not surprising that Turkish firms have been eyeing Southeast Asia for its economic expansion ever since the 1990s with the gradual rise of Turkey as an economic power. In an area that is being eyed for influence by both China and the United States, Turkey stands as a great third party for diplomatic ties to the region. However, Turkey is not a stranger to this area, as the Demirel government had established strong economic ties with the Indonesian government under President Subianto before 2000 when he was constitutionally barred from running for a third term under the newly published 1988 Indonesian constitution when term limits were imposed and a president can only serve three terms, four years per term. Since then, successive Indonesian governments after Subianto have courted Turkey for economic aid, fearing its subordination to China or the United States.


“The Turkish investments in our country’s economy has benefited our people, and unlike the Chinese or Americans, the Turks don’t ask anything in return. Moreover, our bond with the Turkish people goes way back to the heyday of European colonialism in this region,” former President Subianto comments when asked about Turkey’s soft power in SE Asia. “Every day the Turks are also bringing in their people to help us reform our society and our education system in ways that we’ve never experienced before.”


The European Union has so far been skeptical of a Turkish entry into the union over its major hurdles, but with Prime Minister Demirel being asked about Turkish admission into the EU, he gave no comment. However, other Turkish government ministers fear that Turkish membership into the EU would gradually have a negative effect on the investments made overseas. Azerbaijan is also a key recipient of Turkish economic investment and a crucial ally in the volatile Caucasus region, amidst the violent Second Russian Civil War when Armenian separatist forces aligned with Alexander Lebed’s National Redemption Army had seized the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region from Azerbaijan and helped them against Azeri forces aligned with the Soviet government. Indonesia is also a key Turkish ally and is the only Southeast Asian nation to recognize Azeri sovereignty over Nagorno-Karabakh and has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia.


Meanwhile, the post-sanctions period in the Philippines have also attracted economic suitors from China, Korea, Japan, Australia and Russia, with the Chinese most eager to invest in its closest neighbor. However, the military junta is hostile towards Chinese gestures due to the Spratlys conflict when Chinese naval forces began to seize the contested islands in the South China Sea, spanning from 1988 until 2000 when they fought a short conflict with Malaysia and Indonesia over the remaining islands. As a result of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea, Indonesia has proposed a stronger regional economic and military alliance among the SE Asian nations, and in effect closer integration among each other. However, the rejection of Cambodia’s admission into ASEAN due to its pro-Chinese stance in the Spratlys dispute was mainly due to the Vietnamese and Filipino delegates opposing its admission. Australia is the closest ally to the Philippines and is eager to help develop its telecommunications network, as well as positioning itself as a potential partner in urbanization and sanitation. Japan is eyeing the Philippines for its future infrastructure projects while Korea is eager to extend its financial clout into the country.


---

OILERS WIN THRILLER IN DOUBLE OVERTIME AGAINST FLAMES AT OLYMPIC SADDLEDOME
The Edmonton Journal
April 23, 1986


Calgary, ALBERTA – What appears to be a normal Game Three match between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames turned into a nail-biting double overtime as Marc Messier scored the game winning goal. The game remained tied throughout the second period and into the third when Glenn Anderson scored the game breaking goal before Joel Otto tied the game at two, thanks to an untimely save by Grant Fuhr from a wrist shot made by Colin Patterson. Both teams were exhausted by the time the first overtime of the game was complete, forcing both coaches to ask the referee for a one-hour break for their players. A minor defensive error on the part of Calgary forward Jaime Macoun resulted in a turnover, leading to the Messier goal.


“We’re just happy to get the win after a grueling double overtime,” comments Messier after being asked about the double overtime. “I don’t know what else to say.”


Both Oilers and Flames fan can agree that the double overtime will be one of the most memorable moments in their teams’ history, as the game will be talked about throughout the playoffs. Moreover, while it is just Game Three, the momentum has swung in favor of the Oilers, and they will now have a chance to extend their series lead against the Flames. Edmonton is also looking to extend their Cup run as they are aiming for their third straight Stanley Cup.


Marc Messier plays the puck while being sandwiched between two Calgary Flames defensemen in the first overtime. The Edmonton Oilers win Game Three against the Flames, 3-2 (2OT), with Messier (pictured above) scoring the game winning goal in a double overtime.

---


Excerpts from “A Nation in Morning”
By: Arturo Tolentino
Atlas Publishing, published 2002


Chapter Eleven: Distrust



“Calm down, sir!” one of the soldiers pleaded as Tadiar threw an empty glass into the wall inside Camp Tecson. “You’re just making things worse!”


I arrived at the headquarters of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment, only to see a furious Colonel Tadiar screaming at a telephone. To my enormous relief, Major Aromin shuffled me aside while Major Doromal had to clean up Colonel Tadiar’s mess. Since the revolution had ended with Cory Aquino taking power, we thought that things would go back to normal. I was not surprised when Cory started to distance herself from him, and even the hotheaded junior officers within the Reform the Armed Forces Movement had started to listen to Tadiar’s rhetoric. I was a bit alarmed by what Tadiar described the new administration as ‘weak hearted buffoons who could not summon the courage to finish off the communists and the separatists from Mindanao’, even as he was pushing for a new military offensive, only for Cory to insist that the country was broke from the corruption that Macoy was responsible for. I do not blame her for saying it, but to Tadiar, he grows worried that the NPA might start their offensives again.


“That airheaded idiot cannot comprehend the dangers we are in! We have NPA bandits launching raids on our bases and villages throughout Visayas and Central Luzon while the MNLF are getting more weapons from who knows where, and all she can say is that we are broke. If we are broke, then how will we fight them in the first place!?” Tadiar screamed. He grunted as he sat down in his chair. When Major Aromin and I arrived at his office, Tadiar waved for us to enter. “Do you have any complaints so far?”


Major Doromal shook his head. “The soldiers are complaining that their weapons are often worn out, and no new shipments of rifles have come so far.”


“I’m not surprised. The NPA are getting more weapons smuggled from China, and the housewife even thought about releasing Jose Maria Sison from prison,” Tadiar replied while looking at a window to see if there was an enemy guerrilla waiting to kill him. He turned around to see me and smiled. “Take a seat, Mr. Vice President.”


“I’m no longer Vice President. You should call Mr. Laurel by that title,” I insisted, but Aromin snorted. I turned to see him after he reacted. “I’m not kidding.”


“Major Aromin, do we have anyone else who could be of great use to us?” Tadiar asked back.


Aromin frowned but closed his eyes. “There are some rumors that a paramilitary unit is operating in Mindanao. They’ve taken on the NPA, but since their first leader was killed, they’ve been reforming under this man.” He pointed at the picture of a man who I was not familiar with. “This is Rolando Cagay. He is the second leader of the unit operating in Mindanao. He’s also being supported by one of the officers who has commanded a platoon in fighting the communist rebels there.”


“We should meet him then. We will need a lot of help and having the support of these guys will help us with the fight against the NPA,” Tadiar spoke back. “What is the name of this paramilitary unit?”


Surprisingly, Major Doromal answered back: “Alsa Masa, sir.”


“Alsa Masa?” I asked back. I was not familiar with the group, and I did not know the people running it. “What is that group?”


“No one knows how it got started, but it was a response to the NPA activity in Mindanao. I need to talk to Lieutenant Colonel Calida to see if he can aid us in fighting the communists. I fear that we will need his aid if that idiotic housewife decides to release the criminal Sison.” Tadiar gazed at his two subordinates and me. “We need to be prepared for such an eventuality, and if the housewife President decides to release the communist criminals from prison, we have to kill them before they flee the country.”


Marcelo Blando arrived at the office five minutes later, accompanied by five soldiers of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment. He saluted to Tadiar, who returned it and offered my seat to him as I stood up. His soldiers closed the door and stood guard as Doromal and Aromin stood with the good colonel. I thought for a moment that Blando was going to arrest Tadiar and the two Majors, but I now realized that Tadiar had won over another officer to his group. He has won Blando over, and the leader of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment was pleased that he was going to be able to fight the communists with a lot less mercy and more brutality.


“Under the guise of ‘national reconciliation’, the President is planning to release the political prisoners locked up during the previous regime. Many of us in the military opposed such an action because it will mean that Sison will recruit more idiotic students into his terrorist organization. For this reason, I believe that we need to plan an operation to stop the criminals from fleeing the country,” Blando explained to us inside. He issued a single folder that only Colonel Tadiar could see. “Besides Sison, Bernabe Buscayno, and the couple Benito and Wilma Tiamzon are among the criminals to be released. We have already started to contact Lt. Col. Calida for support, and he has agreed to join our cause. However, we cannot allow anyone else to know about this, because the President will arrest and lock all of us up if anyone tells her about this.”


“What about Enrile and Ramos?” I asked Blando.


“They’re standing behind Aquino, so if our little operation succeeds, they might have to be liquidated. I do not wish to kill any more of our fellow officers and soldiers, but if they cannot help us win the war against the communists, then they must either stand aside or be liquidated,” Blando answered back. He turned to Tadiar and pointed at the bottom part of the paper for him to sign. “If you can sign the paper, then we will start planning this military operation.”


“What shall we call this mission?” Tadiar asked back.


“Operation: Stag Party.”

---

(1) Mano po is basically a gesture of respect that children and younger relatives who are adults normally give their elders. It is a common sign of respect in Philippine societies. Though sometimes mano po is also used when greeting non-relatives who are also older than the young.

(2) The longganisa is very delicious. I want to buy this at a market. The palengke is basically an open air market, though it might be similar to a wet market found in the rest of SE Asia. If anyone wanted to buy some groceries, the palengke is normally the best place to buy them at a lower price than the supermarket. A longanisa is a Filipino version of the Spanish chorizo sausage, and it's often made with indigenous spices. Every region of the Philippines has its own version of the longganisa

Previous Chapter: Chapter Three
Next Chapter: Chapter Five

[gillan1220]

Dec 11, 2020 6:06:40 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

The international reaction to the violent crackdown was predictable in the West, with the United States condemning the murder of innocent civilians at the hands of Tadiar’s Marines and the European Union’s suggestion on imposing an arms embargo on the Philippine government until Tadiar would be brought to justice. In the Eastern Bloc, there was a unified voice in favor of condemnation against the atrocities, with the Soviet government choosing to remain neutral in the affair. However, it was the People’s Republic of China who gave the loudest criticism of the so-called assault on the people’s will of desire for democracy that eventually rang hollow when three years later, the People’s Liberation Army would enact the same kind of massacre upon peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, but on a larger scale.

Just a correction, it was still the European Economic Community (EEC) at this period.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Fixed it. Well, to sum it up:

Yep, the distrust between Cory and Tadiar is already there, even before he decides to build his own dictatorship. Plus IOTL Cory did release several political prisoners, Sison being among them before he decided to flee to the Netherlands.

[gillan1220]

Dec 12, 2020 6:53:34 GMT TheRomanSlayer said:

Fixed it. Well, to sum it up:

Yep, the distrust between Cory and Tadiar is already there, even before he decides to build his own dictatorship. Plus IOTL Cory did release several political prisoners, Sison being among them before he decided to flee to the Netherlands.

I like how this timeline proves that despite how many flaws the Cory administration had, it is still better than being ruled by junta. Imagine the Philippines under Honasan had his coup succeeded in December 1989.

[TheRomanSlayer]

The OTL attempted coup by Honasan in 1989 might also be referenced ITTL, but keep in mind that it's Tadiar that is currently being the main star at the moment. However, both Honasan and Tadiar are still colonels in 1986, and we get to see Tadiar get promoted to Brigadier General between 1987-1989, due to the growing popularity of what would become the CNS. A Honasan-led junta might be just as bad as the Tadiar-led coup of TTL, but he might be a bit too reckless. Moreover, Honasan is an Army colonel and Tadiar is a Marine Corps Colonel, so we might actually see the Philippine Marine Corps become more prominent here.

And we might also see how the junta handles the disaster that was the Mount Pinatubo eruption.

[stevep]

  TheRomanSlayer ,

  Just to clarify please?

Aromin frowned but closed his eyes. “There are some rumors that a paramilitary unit is operating in Mindanao. They’ve taken on the NPA, but since their first leader was killed, they’ve been reforming under this man.” He pointed at a man who I was not familiar with. “This is Rolando Cagay. He is the second leader of the unit operating in Mindanao. He’s also being supported by one of the officers who has commanded a platoon in fighting the communist rebels there.”

    Is Aromin pointing at a picture of Cagay or is he actually presumably present?

    Steve

[TheRomanSlayer]

Good catch. Another typo I’ve made lately.

[TheRomanSlayer]

Chapter Five: A Very Angry Mob/Napakagalit ang mga Tao


RIOTS BREAK OUT IN PEKANBARU OVER CONTINUED FORCED ASSIMILATIONIST POLICY AMIDST RUMORS OF EXPULSION
The Jakarta Post
August 21, 1986


Pekanbaru, RIAU – Over 5,000 protesters rioted today in the city of Pekanbaru over the continuation of the Indonesian state’s official policy towards the Chinese minority population. The riots had broken out over the refusal of an Indonesian employer to hire a Chinese employee over his name, telling him that unless he legally changes his Chinese name to an Indonesian name, he will not accept his employment. In another separate incident, a Chinese merchant was beaten up by two Indonesian males over a deal gone wrong, resulting in their murder at the hands of the merchant’s friends. Fearing the growth of the Chinese economic stranglehold on Indonesia’s economy, many Indonesians began to engage in confrontations with the Chinese minority, often leading to fights that forced local police to break up the fights.


“We are Indonesians too, even if our ancestors moved from China,” comments one Chinese protester who was beaten by riot police. “To see that Suharto has continued the racist policies towards is shameful.”


On August 19, 5,000 ethnic Chinese had started to stream towards the Singaporean Embassy in Jakarta to file for political asylum, causing the bodyguards employed by the embassy staff to organize the line up. Although President Suharto has not commented on the incident in Pekanbaru, many other Indonesian military leaders and politicians have started to call for the abolition of the Cabinet Presidium Decision 127 of 1966, which forced Chinese Indonesians to adopt Indonesian surnames. Many Chinese Indonesian activists had compared this law to the infamous Soshi-Kaimei policy that the Japanese colonial government had imposed on Korea when it was under Japanese rule. Upon revealing this comparison, the Indonesian government criticized the comparison, insisting that the policy imposed in 1966 was done for closer integration of the Chinese population of Indonesia into Indonesian society, while the Soshi-Kaimei policy was imposed on a society affected by colonialism.


The demonstrations in Pekanbaru were suppressed by riot police, who often used rubber bullets and live ammunition, in addition to tear gas, on the protesters, resulting in 392 civilians killed and 421 injured. In retaliation, local vigilantes in Pekanbaru and many other parts of Riau province have started to burn down houses inhabited by the Chinese minority, with reports of rape and beatings often released. Though most of the ASEAN member states did not respond to the riots, the Chinese and Taiwanese governments had condemned the Indonesian government’s brutal crackdown on the protesting Chinese population, with Taiwanese President Chiang Ching Kuo proposing to take in any Chinese Indonesian who does not wish to live in a country hostile to their presence. However, the mainland Chinese communist government had no response to the riots other than issuing a travel warning to its citizens who visit Indonesia, despite a paltry number of Chinese citizens visiting Indonesia. The riots in Riau also escalated into anti-government riots where Indonesians are also protesting President Suharto’s regime, with repeated calls for him to step down.



Riot police attempted to break up a fight between native Indonesians and the Chinese minority. The racially inspired riots in Pekanbaru is one of the many incidents that are facing the political leadership of General Suharto.

---

CEO OF SALIM GROUP BEATEN TO DEATH IN RACIALLY MOTIVATED RIOTS IN JAKARTA
The Jakarta Post
August 23, 1986


Jakarta, SPECIAL CAPITAL REGION – In what appeared to be a shocking revelation to the growing anti-Chinese riots inside Indonesia, the CEO of Salim Group, Sudono Salim, was beaten to death by vigilantes while his son Albert Salim was burned alive at 3 PM in Jakarta. The incident started when ten local vigilantes began to throw petrol bombs into Salim’s house, to which Sudono responded by attempting to drive them out of his home, only to be beaten with pipes and brass knuckles while Albert Salim was hit in the head with the petrol bomb and was set alight. Other Chinese-owned businesses were targeted by the vigilantes, who often shouted “Ganyang Tionghoa!”, or ‘kill the Chinese’ in the local dialect, resulting in over 3 billion Rupiah in damages. However, anti-Suharto activists have started to fight back against the vigilantes, often suspecting them of being government agents and soldiers disguised as vigilantes, as proof of the sophisticated bomb that was found by one of the anti-government activists in an abandoned home that luckily did not explode.


The international community finally responded by condemning the violent riots occurring in Indonesia, with the United States and the Netherlands calling for a joint investigation into the incident, while Taiwan and Singapore offered safe passage for any Chinese Indonesian seeking to flee the country. The violent riots had also aroused an uproar in Beijing where many CCP mandarins have started to debate on whether they could help the Chinese Indonesians facing what they called ‘fascist-inspired violence upon our own people’, but Hu Yaobang did not make any official statements, fearing a backlash from among his own subordinates. However, some of Hu’s subordinates are at odds with each other over proposals for solutions to the problem. In the United States, President Ronald Reagan was asked in front of reporters on the situation in Indonesia, though the violent anti-Chinese riots are also occurring at the same time as the assassination of Communist Party of the Philippines Chairman Jose Maria Sison at the hands of Filipino vigilantes backed by large radical elements of the military.


“We are seeing a disturbing trend in racially inspired riots everywhere, and what happened in Indonesia and the Philippines is a great tragedy. The Western powers must share responsibility for this incident because their colonial policies and mindset had resulted in the racial antagonisms between the native population and the Chinese minority there. It is no different from the anti-Asian riots that have occurred in both Canada and the United States,” says Reverend and eventual Democratic Party candidate Jesse Jackson in front of supporters in Chicago. “I don’t say this to sound like a socialist, but as a fellow human being who have compassion for others, and my work with God has also compelled me to oppose this atrocious behavior.”


---


UPRISING IN INDONESIA! SUHARTO FACES POSSIBLE COUP AND IMPEACHMENT AS NUMBER OF GENERALS CONTEMPLATE RESIGNATION FROM THEIR POST
The Jakarta Post
October 10, 1986


Jakarta, SPECIAL CAPITAL REGION – A growing number of students and unemployed workers took to the streets in Jakarta today to demand President Suharto’s resignation and impeachment. The sudden uprising occurred the day before, when a recently murdered reporter had leaked to the world press of Tommy Suharto’s corrupt dealings with Pertamina when he and his brother Bambang Trihatmodjo were charged with falsification of corporate reports by a judge that was later killed by an assassin working for Trihatmodjo because of his refusal to accept a large bribe worth 23 million US dollars. International observers commented on the Pertamina Scandal of 1986 as Indonesia’s version of the Ninoy Aquino Assassination of 1983, when the former opposition leader of neighboring Philippines was killed by assassins backed by another dictator on Suharto’s mold, Ferdinand Marcos. The Pertamina Scandal, along with an incident in 1973 when the younger Suharto forcibly expelled over 2,900 inhabitants of five villages in West Java to build a cattle ranch that he now owns that is over 751 hectares. (1) Both the younger Suharto and Trihatmodjo paid a paltry amount of $5,243 US dollars in total to the expellees, but some families claimed that they never received compensation.


“The cronyism of the Suharto family is a stain on the honor of our nation. Moreover, the criminal behavior that President Suharto’s sons displayed towards ordinary Indonesians is an indication of a family that has gone astray. Out of all the families in the world who can compete with Suharto’s family on the title of Most Corrupt Political Family of the world, our northern neighbor’s President can only be considered the Suhartos’ corrupt equal!” says Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto in a closed session while Vice President Umar Wirahadikusumah had shocked the Indonesian military and government, as well as the world, by clapping after Subianto finished his speech. “If President Suharto insists on ignoring the plight of the Indonesian people and his perversion of the ideology of Pancasila, then it is about time we choose a new leader who will restore honor to the ideals of Pancasila!”


While President Suharto did not make any official comments, various units and regiments of the Indonesian Army began to mutiny against their leaders, with junior officers forming fraternity groups dedicated to the overthrow of Suharto’s dictatorship. In addition, seventy junior judges resigned from their positions in solidarity with the murdered judge who oversaw the corruption case against Tommy Suharto and Trihatmodjo. The United States had offered to establish a special tribunal for the case against Suharto’s sons, with prominent regional judge of Manila and future Immigration Commissioner Miriam Defensor Santiago being chosen to oversee the case, but so far, no response from the anti-Suharto wing of the Indonesian military and government was given so far. Unfortunately, many exiled Indonesian left-wing activists residing in China and Albania had criticized the American offer for help in the Pertamina Scandal case, with Jawoto being the most vocal of them all.


“It is completely ironic that the United States would criticize the very same regime it installed to replace the former administration of the late President Sukarno for its political corruption when they were the real masterminds of Indonesian political corruption. Every government that the US overthrows, every nation that the US invades, always results in a puppet government that bows to the might of the all-powerful US dollar and capitalism!” Jawoto explains while in exile in Tirana, Albania. “It is because of the US that Suharto has crushed the people’s struggle for national liberation and class struggle, and we will not stop until all of Indonesia is liberated from the fascist thugs that occupy it!”



Prabowo Subianto inspects the guards while preparing for the assembly speech behind closed doors.

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COMMUNIST PARTY OF PHILIPPINES LEADER ASSASSINATED BY RIGHT-WING DEATH SQUADS WITH TIES TO MILITARY
The Province
October 18, 1986


Manila, PHILIPPINES – In one of the biggest acts of political violence since the downfall of Ferdinand Marcos, the mastermind behind the communist rebellion in the Philippines was assassinated by right-wing death squads with close ties to radical junior officers within the military, as well as controversial mastermind of Marcos’s downfall, Colonel Artemio Tadiar. Jose Maria Sison was returning from a lecture in the University of the Philippines Diliman campus when three vehicles driven by armed vigilantes had opened fire on him, resulting in bullet wounds to the lungs and the head. Sources say that the self-proclaimed anti-communist militia called Alsa Masa (translates to as the Masses Arise) was responsible for the assassination of Sison, but left-wing activists insisted that the military is to blame for Sison’s murder.


“The heinous crime committed against a man who opposed the deposed dictator cannot go unpunished. While his militant arm, the New People’s Army, are technically in rebellion against this government, the assassination of Jose Maria Sison is a step back from our efforts to heal the nation. Such a crime can only be blamed on one person: Artemio Tadiar,” says Philippine President Corazon Aquino in a briefing inside Malacanang Palace. “The uneasy alliance between my administration and Tadiar’s group can no longer function together.”


Thousands of left-wing activists and communist sympathizers within Philippine universities and colleges paid their final respect to the dead communist leader while many victims of the NPA’s reign of terror celebrated his death, leading to a violent confrontation between the two groups. Disturbing reports of students forming their own vigilante groups have sprung up, with at least 4 left wing activists being beaten to death by a gang of the newly formed far right extremist cells consisted of anti-communist vigilantes and former supporters of deposed former President Marcos who switched their loyalties to Colonel Tadiar. In addition, the Armed Forces of the Philippines had noticed the slight increase in their recruitment numbers among high school graduates, with many of them enlisting as soldiers, while 18% of the nation’s high school graduates had applied to study at the Philippine Military Academy.


Colonel Tadiar and Majors Edgardo Doromal and Saulito Aromin praised the high school graduates’ initiative to ‘join the military to defend your homeland from domestic and foreign enemies’, while also suggesting that the Philippine Constabulary would open its doors to young high school graduates. A proposal to form a Philippine National Guard was submitted to President Aquino for approval, but many lawmakers and liberal politicians feared the growing influence of Tadiar and the military that they begged the president to reject the proposal, in hopes of stopping Tadiar from becoming too powerful. However, another criticism towards the proposal of a National Guard came from within the military, as Gregorio Honasan sharply rebuked his Marine Corps counterpart for what he describes as a ‘political move motivated by opportunism and cowardice’, in reference to Tadiar’s sudden switching of his loyalties from Marcos to Aquino in order to not be punished for his role in the infamous Ortigas Avenue massacre that spiralled out of control. Tadiar in return, criticized Honasan for his seemingly passive response to President Aquino’s order to release the political prisoners held during the Marcos regime, with the failure of the army to combat the communist rebels, in contrast to the Marine Corps’ engagement against the New People’s Army, in conjunction with anti-communist militias.


“We are weakened by President Aquino’s idiotic gesture that emboldened our enemies while our troops are facing not only the resurgent communists, but the Moro secessionists in Mindanao and our issues regarding supplies. Our weapons are becoming worn out while our enemies are receiving better rifles and ammunition. In one battle, an entire platoon of Marines had to steal twelve Type 81 assault rifles and numerous 7.62x39mm ammunition that are not compatible with our M-16 rifles,” Tadiar comments in front of reporters on the condition of the rifles his Marine Corps were carrying. “When our fellow troops under Lt. Colonel Calida’s command had engaged the MNLF and MILF terrorists, they faced the same situation as we did, resorting to stealing the AK weapons captured from dead MNLF terrorists or taken from surrendered enemy combatants.”


The issue of the problems facing the Philippine military is one of the reasons for Tadiar’s growing frustration with the Aquino government. Coupled with his opposition to the release of political prisoners with ties to radical left-wing organizations and the ineffectiveness of the Aquino government, it is not yet known if Tadiar would seize power for himself. The Reform the Armed Forces Movement, a faction of the military known for their opposition to the deposed dictator, had grown disillusioned with the Aquino administration as well, but the senior officers within the movement had kept their loyalty to Honasan out of fear that Tadiar would supplant Honasan with the radical hotheads openly aligning themselves with the controversial colonel.


Lieutenant Colonel Franco Calida inspects an Alsa Masa checkpoint while preparing the vigilante death squads for the mission to assassinate Jose Maria Sison. Calida's Alsa Masa death squads, in cooperation with elements of the Philippine military, carried out the assassination of Sison in the biggest political violence since the 1986 EDSA revolution and the Ortigas Avenue massacre masterminded by Colonel Artemio Tadiar.

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A GUN-LOVER’S UTOPIA, OR HOW THE PHILIPPINES FOUND ITSELF THE UNLIKELY PIONEER OF FIREARMS DEVELOPMENT
Time Magazine (04/22/2017)
By: Steven Langston


The UN economic sanctions imposed on the Philippines in 1989 proved to be devastating to the general population, as demonstrated by the sudden lack of food imports coming to the country. However, it was the arms embargo that was also added on the country’s military as a result of not only its human rights violations, but its questionable role in its aiding of the Mexican government during the Zapatista rebellion and the junta’s disturbing ties to various Asian organized crime groups. Although the arms embargo was officially imposed in 1990 because of the arrest and incarceration of former President Corazon Aquino, it was not until 1995 when the weakness of the Philippine military was ruthlessly exploited by the Chinese communist government when it seized the Scarborough Shoal that many Western countries had planned to petition the UN to lift the arms embargo, only for China to exercise its veto in the next Security Council meeting over the crisis in the South China Sea. As a result, the junta started to explore the idea of creating its own domestic arms industry to ensure that the Philippine military would be armed exclusively with Philippine-made weapons.


For gun enthusiast Pedro Bagay, the story of his fascination with his firearms started, like many other former and active soldiers of the Philippine military, with his service in the Philippine Marines. During the offensive against the New People’s Army in 1990, Pedro Bagay, while still a staff sergeant, had picked up a Type 81 assault rifle from a dead NPA soldier, along with several rounds of ammunition. Like many officers Bagay served under, Colonel Tadiar had the biggest complaint regarding military equipment and weapons. It was not until 1996 when Bagay was by then a Master Sergeant that the arms embargo was lifted, but by then they were experimenting with various kinds of firearms. Several farms who could not make enough profits to make ends meet resorted to the production of firearms, often making crude versions of it. Officially, Tadiar had declared it illegal for households to operate unlicensed firearms arsenals, but in private he could do little as the sanctions took a toll on the country’s economy. Replicas of hand pistols are often popular with officers of the Philippine military seeking a cheaper alternative to purchasing genuine pistols from overseas.


“My father and his friends saved whatever money they had left to operate a crude arsenal in our family backyard. I saw firsthand the pistols they made,” says Bagay after coming home from his military duty on leave. “However, the replicas are boring to acquire because they’re not really special to have. One of my father’s friends lost a finger while trying to fix a broken pistol.”


Accidents would tragically be a common feature of the unlicensed firearms arsenals throughout the Philippines, and in several cases, gunmakers would lose any body part because of the accidents. It was not until 1999 that Tadiar would approach the unlicensed gunmakers with a bold approach.


“By now, he was promoted to Major General from being a Brigadier General, and the issue of the weapons remained on his mind. He therefore asked the gunmakers to design and develop a new rifle for the Philippine military,” Bagay said as he laughed lightly after recalling his father’s shock over the junta leader’s proposal. “The prize for the best prototype rifle was a lucrative contract with the military, so my father became more excited with the prospect of lifting his family out of poverty.”


Unfortunately, while the Bagay family were excited at the challenge Tadiar had made towards most gunmakers in the country, building an actual prototype assault rifle is an extremely difficult process, and not even the Bagay patriarch was able to meet the challenge, to his great disappointment. Yet the gods of fortune did not abandon him yet, as Pedro gave his father the rifle he used during his mission and kept around the discarded M-16 rifle that was worn out. He also experimented with the two STANAG-compliant magazines that were found with the M-16 Pedro used a while ago in order to see how he can adjust the size of the barrel that he needed to make for the M-16 ammunition to be used while at the same time making the prototype rifle as durable as the Type 81 that Pedro had grown to love, to his annoyance.


In 2003, the contest to build the first indigenous designed assault rifle for the Philippine had gone to a standstill as none of the gunmakers were able to build a decent prototype assault rifle. However, the creativity of the gunmakers remained the same in the field of hand pistol production, which often led to mixed results. Unlicensed gunmakers would often be hired to build hand pistols for both pro-government militias and hired assassins, as well as organized crime groups involved in arms trafficking, but the Bagay patriarch shied away from involvement with the local Filipino crime groups. Instead, the junta had paid him $50,000 US dollars in the establishment of an official, licensed gun making factory in the province of Samar, where Pedro is originally from.


“My father was surprised that Major General Tadiar was able to give him a chance to build a licensed firearm for our military. To be honest, I’m surprised that he kept the first pistol that my father made from his licensed factory.” Pedro laughs as he recalls his commanding officer’s first visit to the Bagay firearms factory. “It is not surprising that he’s being targeted by jealous rivals who were not offered the same lucrative contract to build more firearms.”


The American National Rifle Association came to the rescue of the Bagay patriarch, with its members traveling to the Philippines in November of 2007, a year after travel restrictions were lifted, to see how they can be of any assistance to the Bagays. Through the NRA, the Bagays and the junta had partnered with Armscor to see how they could improve the rifle design, which led to Armscor’s purchase of Bagay’s firearms factory and the employees hired by the Bagay patriarch becoming by association, employees of Armscor. In 2010, Armscor through Pedro Bagay and his father, had finally built the first successful prototype assault rifle, which was designated as Armscor Philippine Firearm (APF) P-3 assault rifle. Though it is similar in design to the Bushmaster M17S produced in Australia, its only main difference is the angle of the pistol grip, less slanted plus a guard to secure the soldier’s hand while holding the rifle. The STANAG magazines were also used in the new APF P-3 assault rifle, though plans for a sniper rifle version were also proposed. Another prototype, the APF P-4, was designed with a slightly longer barrel, that could give a soldier advantage while on the battlefield, as it was made to fire the 5.56x45mm standard NATO cartridge. By 2011, Florida’s Kel-Tech Industries had also joined in the fray, helping to improve the APF prototype.


“It’s a great challenge for us to see what kinds of problems we can detect in the first prototype they made,” says Kel-Tech international representative Michael Smith while examining the APF P-4 assault rifle. Unlike the Philippine version of the Bushmaster M17S, this version of the RFB with a longer barrel might have better results, though the government here wishes to have both a carbine and assault rifle version, as well as sniper variants.”


Finally, in 2014, after a long time without any kind of improvement, the weakened junta finalized the design of the prototypes, leading to the first successful indigenous-designed assault rifle to go into mass production. The APF FP-2 (FP being designated as Final Product) was put into production, with the 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition being produced as well. The results spoke for themselves, as the largest counter-insurgency operation in Philippine military history was launched against the NPA, codenamed Operation: Wolfpack. Operation Wolfpack was a series of attacks on various NPA strongholds in eastern Visayas and Central Mindanao, with skirmishes being reported in places like Central Luzon. The casualty ratio was shocking: 12 NPA terrorist killed per 1 dead AFP soldier, as opposed to the small casualty ratio between the NPA and AFP. However, the trial of Artemio Tadiar, Edgardo Doromal and Saulity Aromin had caused a ruckus because the Bagay patriarch feared that he would be arrested and tried in the Hague. Much to his relief, he was not arrested, though victims of Tadiar’s brutality had sent the Bagay family death threats.


“Much of the victims who were incarcerated turned out to be communist sympathizers, and who can blame Tadiar for his reaction when they were openly sympathizing with the Chinese communist government while they seized our islands,” said Pedro angrily after chasing off another disgruntled former victim of the Tadiar dictatorship. “Although to be honest, I don’t blame the Aquinos either for wanting to make peace with our enemies. We were exhausted by that point too.”


It is not said whether that Pedro Bagay, now honorably discharged from the military and has joined his father in working for Armscor, producing the rifles they themselves have designed. Although the Philippines had suffered much from the economic sanctions and arms embargo, it has forced the military junta to think outside the box for solutions when faced with such problems. From improving its food supply and nutrition for its children, to the attempted improvement of its infrastructure, there would always be mixed feelings about the junta. For those who benefited from the junta’s patronage like Pedro Bagay and his father, they could not imagine a world where Tadiar’s troops had not accidentally killed the protesters in the 1986 EDSA revolution, or a junta led by Gregorio Honasan instead of Tadiar.


“We would have immigrated to another country if we were given the change, had Cory Aquino remained as president,” Pedro comments while looking at another APF FP-2 assault rifle he had finished making. “In hindsight, it’s give and take, depending on how you lived during this time period.”

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(1) Source: The Family Firm