An American soldier of fortune named Jack Terrell, who once worked for the contra rebels in Nicaragua, created a political storm in the Philippines last week when he implicated Foreign Secretary Raul Manglapus in a bizarre plot to murder a handful of President Corazon Aquino's opponents, including rebel Colonel Gregorio ("Gringo") Honasan.

Aquino defended her Foreign Secretary as "an uncomplicated man" who would never contemplate murder. Manglapus, a droll diplomat who once set his thoughts on U.S.-Philippine relations to music in a theatrical comedy called Yanky Panky, denied the allegations.

But the drama will probably not be short-lived. Opposition Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who is running for President, called for a Senate investigation that could easily last until elections are held in May 1992.