businesses. Matters had deteriorated so significantly that the nephew of the former vice president, Geny Lopez, was thrown in jail for being involved in a plot to assassinate the President. With hopes of securing the release of Geny, the Lopez family was forced to give up more of their businesses to Marcos. He inherited the electric company and TV network but did not keep his end of the deal and Geny remained in jail. These events continued the trend of Marcos and those close to him receiving benefits that had been taken from others. This became known as "crony capitalism." The idea of crony capitalism centered around the fact that all major corporations and business interests in the Philippines were controlled by the Marcos family or his close friends and allies. In all, the Marcos family controlled eighteen companies, and the Marcos administration issued formal decrees specifically designed to hurt competition (thus helping themselves) and to "pamper" his cronies. U.S. – Philippine relations were strained due to the U.S. military bases agreements. On December 11, 1976, President Marcos stated in a public foreign policy address that all U.S. bases must pay rent to the Philippine government. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld wrote to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on December 29, 1976, regarding the request. Secretary Rumsfeld stated that this was against US policy and that it was incumbent upon Secretary Kissinger to tell Marcos that the US would not pay rent. Rumsfeld would state that there were profound implications for military arrangements across the globe. He stated further that it was critical to US-Philippine relations to resolve the matter. Secretary Kissinger and Foreign Secretary Romulo talked negotiation agreements but could not come to conclusions, concluding that multiple issues still needed a resolution. The US attempted to show they were being flexible through useless concessions. They believed this would get the Filipinos to acquiesce to items the US desired in the agreement. Marcos wanted to delicately address the negotiation issues due to the Philippines violations of human rights which weakened their image to the U.S. President Marcos had been concerned with the importance of human rights to the U.S. government. This was a major reason for Marcos wanting the U.S. to pay rent for their military bases instead of U.S. military support. It gave an outlet for the Philippine government to avoid congressional questioning. In August 1977, Marcos relaxed his