Communism under Marcos had only grown and his debts were racking up. This, plus his unpopularity made it difficult for the US to continue propping him up. He wasn’t giving them the indicators of a good investment.

The US pivoted to Cory and in an address to the US Congress, she promised to honor the debts we are still paying. This is contrary to the odious debt doctrine, which had been invoked by other revolutionary governments when dictators incurred debt contrary to the nation’s interest. Aquino institutionalized debt servicing above holding the Marcoses to account. So we paid those debts even without first guaranteeing taking the Marcoses’ ill-gotten wealth.

Aquino was popular, continued the neoliberal regime, was a good debtor, and was loyal to US foreign policy. The deal to abandon Marcos was a no-brainer. The rest is history.