Foreign Relations: Formula from the Philippines

FOREIGN RELATIONS

The nation last week offered a vibrant welcome to an Asian statesman who stands to lose more than an argument if the U.S. reneges on its commitments across the Pacific. Only ten months after a resounding election victory, President Ferdinand E. Marcos of the Philippines flew to Washington for a state visit that meant far more to him, and his hosts, than the usual red-carpeted round of pleasantries. For Marcos, it represented a threefold opportunity — to renew a long-standing bond of friendship with the U.S., to make a case for increased U.S. aid to bail out his stagnating econ omy, and to impress on Americans some home truths about the realities of power in Asia. With willing assistance from Washington, Marcos made the most of his opportunity.

Leadership & Loneliness. Marcos' good looks, poise and fame as the Philippines' most decorated hero of World War II (27 medals, including the U.S.

Distinguished Service Cross) all contributed to the enthusiastic reception.

So did his stunning wife Imelda, Miss Manila 1954, who, at 36, is still so pret ty that the latest Filipino entry in the Miss Universe contest could declare without diplomatic deference that at least one woman in the islands was better-looking: the President's wife.

Their first morning in Washington, Marcos and Imelda were escorted to the north portico of the White House. There Lyndon Johnson's warm greeting reflected his gratitude for Marcos' decision, in the face of strong congressional opposition and strident criticism from local leftists and nationalists, to commit a 2,000-man Filipino force to Viet Nam. On the eve of his departure for his 15-day U.S. swing, Marcos had seen off 700 members of a security battalion before they boarded two Saigon-bound troopships. Said Johnson, obviously moved: "Your people and mine have shared suffering and victory. So we are not only friends; we are brothers."

Marcos responded by discarding a memorized four-paragraph speech for a longer, more emotional, off-the-cuff oration. The President of the Philippines paid feeling tribute to the President of the U.S.—who needs every encomium he can get. "We thank you for utilizing your powers with restraint and wisdom," said Marcos. "Leadership is the other side of the coin of loneliness, and he who is a leader must always act alone. And acting alone, accept everything alone." Thanking the U.S. for moving so swiftly after World War II to grant the Philippines independence after 48 years of colonial rule, he declared: "For over seven decades, your nation and mine have walked the path of democracy. We have followed you. And we do not regret it."

Nicely-Nicely Johnson. From then on, it was a whirl of receptions and dinners. Imelda, dressed for each occasion in one of 40 butterfly-sleeved Filipino ter-nos that she had brought along, was usually the center of attention. Her yellow terno caught Lyndon Johnson's eye. "That is my favorite color too—yellow," he told her. "Actually," she confided later, "my favorite color is pink. But he is the President."