The Philippines: Recriminations and Questions

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In the ornate state dining hall of Malacañnang Palace, the Rev. Jerry Falwell rose to salute President Ferdinand Marcos for standing tall against the specter of Communism, a compliment the right-wing U.S. evangelist had a few weeks earlier bestowed on South Africa's State President P.W. Botha. "Had it not been for the Marcos family," Falwell told an audience that included the First Couple, government supporters and officials, "the chances are that the freedoms you enjoy today would not be here." Falwell later shook his finger at the Reagan Administration for "bellyaching" about the need for financial and military reform in the Philippines and demanded that after the announced elections the U.S. "get behind the country with unswerving support."

That was about the only praise the Philippine President heard in a week filled with recriminations, question marks and political maneuvering. Since Marcos announced a snap presidential election on Nov. 3, at least partly in response to U.S. pressure for a restoration of democracy after 13 years of authoritarian rule, the Philippines has been gripped by election fever. There has also been considerable confusion about when, with which candidates, and under what conditions the election will be held.

In a move to defuse opposition charges that hasty balloting might be unfair, Marcos agreed last week to delay the election beyond the original Jan. 17 date. The stakes were high indeed. "This is an election where everything will be risked--life, liberty and honor," proclaimed Salvador ("Doy") Laurel, a major opposition candidate for the presidency. "You will have to kill us in order to cheat us." In Washington, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Paul D. Wolfowitz said before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee that dishonest elections might cause a "disaster of large and indefinable proportions."

Meanwhile, the court trying 26 alleged conspirators for the 1983 murder of Opposition Leader Benigno ("Ninoy") Aquino Jr. tantalizingly announced that it had reached a verdict but refused to reveal it until this week. A group of 31 prominent Filipinos countered by petitioning the Supreme Court to declare a mistrial in the case against those accused of conspiring to kill Aquino. They argued that the lower court showed "partiality" toward the accused as well as "injudicious and irregular conduct." Marcos has promised to restore General Fabian Ver, 65, a longtime crony and the best-known defendant, to his post as military chief of staff if he is declared innocent. Such a move would seriously undermine Marcos' already shaky credibility in the case.