that respected the iife and freedom of every Filipino.

,,
she arso boasted of
the restoration of a fully constitutional government
whose constitution gave
utmost respect to the Bili of Rights. she reported
to the u.s. congress:
'Again as we restore democracy by the u,ays of
d.emocracy,
so are we completing the constitutional
structures of our new
democracy under a constitution that aiready gives
fulr respect
to the BiIr of Rights. A jeaiousry independent
constitutional
commission is compreting its draft which
wil be submitted
later this year to a popurar referencrum.
when it is approved,
there wil be elections for both nationar
and locar positions.
so, within about a year from a peaceful but
national upheavar
that overturned a dictatorship, w€ shalr have
returned to ful
constitutional government.,'

cory then proceeded on her peace agenda with

the existing communist
insurgency, aggravated by the dictatoriar
and authoritarian measure of
Ferdinand Marcos. She asserted:
'My predecessor set aside democracy
to save it from a
communist insurgency that numbered less
thar-r five hu'dred.
unhampered by respect for human rights he
rvent at it with
hammer and tongs. By the time he fled, that
insurgency had
grown to more than sixt.een thousancr.
I thi,k rhere is a lesson
here to be learned about trying to stifle
a thi,g with a means
by which it grows."

Cory's peace agenda involves political initiatives

and re-i,tegration
program to persuade insurgents to leave
the cotrntr-yside and return to
the mainstream society to participate in the
restoration of democracy. she
invoked the path of peace because she believecr
that it was the moral path
that a moral government must take. Nevertheless,
cory took a step back
when she said that while peace is the priority
of her presidency, she ,,wil1 not
waiver" when freedom and democracy are
threatenecr. She said that, sim,ar
to Abraham Lincorn, she understands
that ,,force may be necessary before
mercy''and while she did not relish the idea,
she ,,wil do whatever it takes
to defend the integrity and freedom of (her)
countr1,.,,
cory then turned to the controversial topic
of the philippine foreign debt
amounting to $2e bilion at the time of her
speech. This debt had barooned
during the Marcos regime. Cor;- expressed
her intention r;;;;;;;;;;;;.

chapter 2 I c.ntent anci Conret:uar Anari.sis of Serected primary.sources

in philippine Hisrorl,