Three-Day Shift

In the midst of the hubbub over the Bell report, President Quirino announced that there was no national emergency in the troubled Philippines. Three days later, he suspended the writ of habeas corpus. His explanation: there was a national emergency. Said Quirino: "There is no doubt that the lawless elements have constituted their various groups into an organized effort to subvert the government . . . Numerous cases . . . have convinced me that there is an actual state of rebellion . . . there is danger this movement may extend throughout the country."

Many Filipino politicians and newspapers promptly called Quirino's action unconstitutional and unnecessary. They regarded it as evidence that his government was still not up to dealing effectively with the Communist-led Huk guerrillas.

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