Fidel V Ramos

THE DREADED "CHARACTER ISSUE" EXPLODED ONTO MANILA'S FRONT PAGES SHORTLY AFter the Philippine presidential race began this spring. Unlike in America, it wasn't a cheesy supermarket tabloid but the outgoing president, Corazon Aquino, who blew the whistle on sex and politics. Without naming names, she implied on a radio show that some of the candidates campaigning to succeed her had been unfaithful to their wives. She urged the next president to focus on affairs of state, not the heart.

President Corazon Aquino endorsed former Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos today as her successor in an announcement expected to set off a mad round of politicking before the May 11 election. Ramos, a 63-year-old West Point graduate, helped lead the 1986 uprising that toppled his cousin, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos, and propelled Aquino to power. As chief of staff and defense secretary, Ramos stood by Aquino through seven coup attempts.

President Fidel Ramos, whose administration is enmeshed in an ugly corporate battle for control of Philippine Airlines, plans to break an ownership stalemate by putting the government's key stake in the national carrier on the block to the highest bidder. The struggle between two wealthy Philippine businessmen has threatened the future of the flagship airline and cast a shadow over the government's program to privatize key industries. Fighting for control are Antonio Cojuangco Jr.

At high noon Thursday, the 13 devotees of the Sagrado Corazon Senor religious cult fell to their knees in the detention area of a military camp here and prayed for strength to resume their holy war against communism. For 15 minutes, they mumbled sacred incantations, fingered amulets that they believe make their bodies bulletproof and invoked the power of their master, a bearded Filipino religious zealot who claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus.

Newly appointed armed forces chief Fidel V. Ramos, trying to root out corruption in the military, Saturday fired 22 top military officers who had been appointed by deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, chief of staff of the Philippine armed forces, announced the formation Sunday of a special panel to investigate corruption cases involving high-ranking active and retired military officers. Ramos, who also served as uniformed chief under deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos, said the panel is a first step by the military in an effort to "cleanse its ranks."

The Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a petition for a recount of the presidential election, removing the last legal obstacle to Fidel V. Ramos' becoming president. The 64-year-old Ramos, a former defense secretary, will take office next Tuesday. Congress on Monday officially proclaimed him the winner of the May 11 presidential election, and he promised that his government will defend "the poor and powerless."

The Philippines and Singapore recalled their ambassadors as relations between the countries plummeted in a dispute over the hanging of a Philippine maid. President Fidel V. Ramos announced the indefinite recall of his envoy and banned any more maids from going to the island state. Singapore responded by recalling its ambassador for consultations. Flor Contemplacion was hanged for the 1991 killing of another Philippine maid and a Singaporean boy.