Then-Philippine president Corazon Aquino speaks to media in 1990

Does a CIA document prove then-Philippine president Corazon Aquino requested American air strikes against rebel troops? Unfounded.

This article is more than one year old.
Published on June 25, 2018 at 18:45
2 min read

Online reports claim that a declassified US Central Intelligence Agency document proves then-Philippine president Corazon Aquino asked the United States in 1989 to launch air strikes against rebel troops involved in an attempt to oust her. While the document is real, it does not offer definitive evidence that she requested air strikes.

The reports, including on Pinoy Hub, state the declassified CIA cable from December 4, 1989, contains proof that Aquino asked for the US air strikes to quell the rebels.

The headline in the Pinoy Hub article, written in Filipino, states: “CIA reveals documents proving that Cory Aquino requested air strikes against Filipino soldiers in 1989!”

Identical, or very similar headlines, have been carried in multiple reports and they have been widely shared on Facebook such as here at HiddenTruthPH.

Aquino led the famous "People Power" revolution that overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. She ruled for the next six years, although she had to survive a number of deadly coup attempts including the one in December 1989.

Many Filipinos regard Aquino, who died in 2009, as a democracy heroine. Some of her critics have sought to use these reports to discredit her.

The cable cited in the reports is real. It was declassified in 2013. It can be viewed at the CIA 's website here. In it the CIA does state that Aquino asked for help in quelling the coup.

However, the document’s only reference to Aquino specifically asking for air strikes is sourced to reports from the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.

The CIA does not confirm in the document whether the media reports are accurate.

So the so-called proof the reports claim has been "revealed" in the CIA document is an unconfirmed citation of the American media.

Troops loyal to Aquino celebrate defeating the rebels

The mutineers ultimately stood down, although the uprising left nearly 100 people dead, according to the government’s official record of the events.

During the fighting pro-government forces and rebels used air strikes against each other, according to the official account that was released in 1990.

The official account also states that then-defense secretary Fidel Ramos asked then-US ambassdor Nicholas Platt for American air support, but described them as "persuasion flights".

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