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Philippines: Aquino suggested as Sp



Subject: Philippines: Aquino suggested as Special Envoy to Burma

	Philippines: Aquino Suggested as Special Envoy To Burma
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	MANILA (AP-Dow Jones)--A lawmaker proposed on Friday that former 
	President Corazon Aquino go to Burma as a special envoy to convey 
	Philippine concern about a crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. 
	Representative Ranjit Shahani, a nephew of President Fidel Ramos, 
	made the suggestion during a hearing on Philippine policy toward 
	Burma. 

	Burma has repeatedly denied Aquino a visa for talks with Nobel 
	laureate and pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.
	Shahani described the visa rejections for Aquino as a 'slap on the 
	face of the Filipino people.' 

	Aquino wasn't immediately available for comment. 
	While the Philippines supports Burma's military government, the 
	State Law and Order Restoration Council, 'we have to express our 
	concern about the anti-democratic tendencies being undertaken by 
	the military junta, which is brutal and self-serving,' Shahani 
	said. In a speech at a U.S. State Department ceremony where she was 
	awarded the J. William Fulbright Prize for International 
	Understanding earlier this month, Aquino urged U.S. officials and 
	other international leaders to support democracy in Burma in the
	same way they backed her a decade ago. 

	Aquino took office after a 'people power' revolution in February 
	1986 ousted the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos. She said she had 
	tried several times to visit Suu Kyi, but military rulers refused 
	her entry. 
	(END) AP-DOW JONES NEWS 25-10-96
   	1053GMT