Thursday, February 27, 1986
Page 2
Daily Nebraskan
Bv The Associated Press
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Cease-fire sought,
but not extradition
MANILA, Philippines President Corazon Aquino
said Wednesday she will seek a cease-fire with commu
nist guerrillas but not the extradition of Ferdinand Mar
cos, who was driven into exile by her "people power"
revolt. .
Salvador H. Laurel, the new vice president, announced
plans for a general political amnesty arkl said the insur
gents are not truly communists, but people Marcos forced
Into fighting. : , . , "
Government television announced that a military
committee was preparing a list of anti-Marcos political
prisoners to be freed Thursday, which it said might
.include about 50 percent of those held. .;::;., -
Aquino, who blames Marcos for the assassination of
her husband, Benigno, in 1983, said at a news conference:
"I have said I can be magnanimous in victory. I would '
like to show by example that the sooner we forget our
hurt, then the easier it will be for our country to start
rebuilding from the ruins left us." ,
She also announced her. Cabinet appointments'at the "
news conference, and said Laurel will serve as prime min
ister and foreign minister."
American helicopters took Marcos, who had ruled this
7,100-island archipelago for two decades, to Clark Air
Base on Tuesday night. He and his party were flown to
Hawaii by the U.S. Air Force after a stop in Guam. '"
Aquino met with 1 1 members of the Marcos govern
ment Wednesday, including Prime Minister Cesar Virata,
and asked them to stay on until her appointees received
National Assembly approval. She also included some
Marcos men in her new government -
"Let's forget the past," she said.
Marcos, 68, was brought down by a fraud-tainted
presidential election which Aquino refused to concede,
combined with U.S. pressure and a military-civil revolt.
Aquino said she would not ask the United States to
extradite Marcos, whom she has called an "old dictator."
Her husband, Marcos' chief political rival, was shot
dead at the Manila airport in 1983 as he returned from
three years of voluntary exile in the United States.
Gen. Fabian C. Ver, Marcos' armed forces commander,
and 25 others were acquitted of conspiracy in theslaying.,
Ver fled the country with Marcos. . ...
Aquino, 53, said a. new Commission on Good Govern-"-r
ment would investigate alleged illegal transfers of wealth
from the country by Marcos and his associates. -
:The commission also will study how to resolve the
assassination of her husband, while another special
: commission will study constitutional reform, she said. f
She said charges of wrongdoing by military officers
would be investigated and members of the military would
be removed in areas where "people will be in danger by .
: the continued presence of certain officers and men."
Loud applause greeted her announcement .that, ... r rrrr
although the riverside presidential palace will remain the
seat' of government, she will natiive there because :"i; is
- not fitting for the leader of an jmpwerishe
in extravagance." 't
Military bomb disposal expemWednesd f$ju-j
the palace grounds for possible booby-traps planted by
"fleeing Marcos guards. Sgt. Enrique Lescano .ofthe ,
PhifippiBe Constabulary told The Assodated-Ptess he :
found a plastic charge fiidden. inside a book In the palate
. and -that the grouhdwere littered with hand grenades I
' and other ammunitioifapparentri6ft behind in Tuesday!
night's hasty evacuation Si - "
Laurel, interviewed on CBS News, announced plans for;
: "a general amnesty to all political offenders."- ;
Speakes summarizes:
'She's done a good job'
WASHINGTON F.ncouraged by Corazon Aquino's
actions during her first 24 hours as president of the Phi
lippines, congressional and administration officials Wed
nesday predicted increased American aid to help her ;
shore up the sagging economy and fight a communist- . '
backed insurgency. p-;
- Aquino faces enormous problems,: but she appears to
have taken office Tuesday with lesiturmoftand violence .
" than the adraihistrati on thought possible. " : . . :
- The relative ease of the transition, particularly the". :;
quick switch in. allegiance of the military", will be advan
tageous inJielpipg'jmthe eommunist insurgency, . -.
both Pentagon and State Department officials said. :"r
"I think.she established both through the election and :;,
in the events of the last week a very powerful position,. ?:
and people underestimated that," said Michael Armaoost, "
undersecretary of state," ; -; .r
The administration wants Aquino to determine her aid r
v needs before any is offered. But there is no doubt she will
get significantly more than Ferdinand Marcos would have
received if he had managed to hang on as president.
Just before the Feb. ! election.: President Reagan
" promised to consider a significant increase in American ,
aid if the election was fair and was followed by military,
economic and political refo.rmsv..;:;rr:.:
: That offer was put "in abeyance" after Marcos declared
himself the winner in a fraud-marred election. But the
offer is back on the table for Aquino's government, sev- Y
eral officials indicated. : . .:; ; r . .
Rep. Robert G. Torricelli, D-NJ., who last week won ?
approval in a House subcommittee of a cut-off in all :
direct aid to the Marcos'government, said in an interview.
' that bill is now dead and he would favor more aid for
Aquino, although it's too early to say how much.
" An early visit by Aquino is unlikely, but it is
considered quite possible that her running mate, Vice
President Salvador Laurel, who also is the new prime
minister, will come to Washington for talks: i;x
Congress approved $245 million in aid for the Marcos
government for fiscal 1986, and the administration is
committed to requesting at least 1220 ' million a year in : .
combiiTOtmapnd-economio aid und era five-year-
lrm?m&&LmiJ&e mUitaresjtf Clark Judd. T-,
iay.
Philip Habib, President Reagan's special emissary,
arrived in Manila Wednesday saying he wanted to deter- -mine
"how the United States can help in addressing the :.
" problems 'of Economic revival and national secu rity." J: !,
: 5 Administration officials ik$l XqliinoV early, appoint-.-' .
ment& and her quick move to consolidate her authority. u
White House spokesman; Larry Speakes said, "So far she's
done a good job."" 'r: n. : : -:?
H Among appointments Teceiving praise were Gen.' Fidel
V. Ramos as chief of staff, replacing Gen. Fabian Ver, new
. '. military service chiefs and her appointments to the eco;
Gnomic ministry and .Central Bank ; " : ;
' r AithougH Torjicellisaid there were some "lingering; :
:iquesiions-about Aquino's at titudeicrtvard. the future of.
- tne American Bases, tne administration regarded them asr-
' -seWrevPenfagdn officials had felt'allalofig that they- -1
- could work out-an arrangement to continue-the bases-,
beyond Uieschiduled lease expiration in,:l 9,9 1 .with any
government, short of a communist one ' I
. ... Concern over the commujaistsJia&been .ihe singly .. i
: gttatest worry, Jn 'testibjipreTH'QuS3i "
i panel, Assistant SecretirjrofdDefi?nse Richaf d rmitag ; 1
;- said the number of armed' Insurgents had increased to
: more than 20,000, up 50 percent from a year ago.
Marcos' room like
refuge of 'sick man'
MANILA, Philippines Ferdinand Marcos always
scoffed at reports that he was ill, but his bedroom at the
presidential palace Ls like a honpital, It appeared AVed:'-.''
nesday to be the refuge of a very sick man. . " V.1Y
Therewas a pervasive smell of medicine. A hospital
bed was "against one wall, unmade and cranked up ;
slightly .to ease the back. A man's pajama top was thrown
over the footboard. '. c i-'v ;
A box on a bedside table held disposable syringes,,
with plastic coverings in green, blua and pink, i:
A booklet titled "Renal Transplant Outpat lnts Bock". .
lay on another table just outside the bedroom. People
who had 'visited the palace .before said they saw what; ':
they thought were machines used for treating kidney .;, -I
ailments.-: rhz "v
Marcwi 68, has laughed off jumelrs that heis"iiffers"from
lupus erythematosus, aarncurable,disease that attacks : :
the kidneys andpther organ.in its late stages:;:;: rrl:rv:
During his years in Malacanang Palace, the man whose
two decades as president, ended in flight Tuesday night ;
often boasted about his health. ,..-'f :
"I am not sick of anything that is malignant or . i.
incurable," he said in a television interview Monday, but
his health had appeared to decline progressively over the
past several months. " "ziBr-i :
At an election campaign rally in January a bandage on
his hand came off and blood trickled down; The hand was
swathed in bandages the next dayahd he said an ardent
supporter had scratched him whilf trying to shake his
hand. - ; r::-.s':'h ' 'r ;
Skin lesions are characteristic of lupus erj'thematosus.
Marcos apparently stopped playing golf, which was one
of his favorite pastimes, and walks with an increasingly
noticeable limp. He said the limp was caused by a shrap
nel wound suffered during World-War" :,
Rumors of kidney problems were first heard in 1982,
and there were reports of a transplant in 1983.;:f- ' ;:
He dropped out of public view for weeks the next year.
A former aide said his body had rejected the first kidney,
making another transplant necessary. - r
In Washington, the Reagan administration said Wed
nesday it does not plan to seize or freeze Marcos' vast
holdings in thj?, IjnitedJStates, and was silenton whether
it 'would resist legaT'efforts by Corazon Aquino's govern
ment to clainj his assets.: : ; . - ? .;. :.
The deposed president 'flew to Hawaii and there" were
indications his odyssey from the Philippines might end
there. 'T'j J. ,:.':r ::"';-:"
Discussions already have been- conducted with Marcos
or members of his entourage "as "to whaLhis wishes are
and the possibility uf him staying in Hawaiilsaid presi
dential spokesman Larry Speakes. No decision has been
made, he said. '-i -'i?- "r:. Z.
: Reagan's envoy, Philip Habib, was dueo arrive in
Manila durinthe'day for talks "on how the U.S. can help
in addressing the problems" of economic ieviyal, national
se.curitiVtSpeaices: said. ; i.m.m'
"Marcos is rVputtd to have extensive real estate hokf-
in'liLthrlinttcdtatjs, including four commercial '
Island thata Ho use subcommittee estimate, Jhjjy.ej. com
bined value -of $:50 million, ;
A recent U.C intelligence ftfiSrl&sSw
of Marcos and his family at".$3 billion, the .WaU..trfrtL.
Journal repotted, Jt quoted
soaAlvaiezasjing her governm
means available to-xecovenassetslfarcos-a-ld hi? firoily.
aiiegeaiy.se.ni overseas.
Nsbmskan
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 19S8 DAILY NEBRASKAN
eagan: Military cut not cheap or safe
WASHINGTON President Reagan,
trying to reverse dwindling support for
his defense buildup, said Wednesday it
would be "reckless, dangerous and
wrong" for Congress to reduce his $320
billion military budget request.
! ! Conwessalready has "undercut our t
i negotiators" ;at th e Geneva arms' talksf ,
pons and unilaterally giving the Soviets
"a concession they could not win at the
bargaining table," the president said.
In a bluntly worded address nation
ally broadcast from the Oval Office,
Reagan said to cut defense now is "not
cheap (and) it's not safe."
He said it would be "backsliding of
the most irresponsible kind." "
"Just as we are sitting down at the
bargaining table with the Soviet Union,
let's not throw America's trump card
away," Reagan said.
In a brief reference to the ouster of
Philippine President Ferdinand Mar
cos and his replacement by Corazon
Aquino his first public statement on
the switch Reagan applauded the
"remarkable restraint shown by both
sides to prevent bloodshed during these
last tense days."
"Our hearts and hands are with
President Aquino and her new govern
ment as they set out to meet the chal
lenges ahead," he said. "Today, the Fil
ipino people celebrate the triumph of
,geraocracy, ana the .world celebrates
House Democratic leader Jim Wright,
giving his party's response to Reagan's
address, said the president's defense
budget must be cut to protect the
nation from another danger huge
deficits.
"We think the deficits themselves
pose a danger to our national security,"
Wright said in remarks prepared for
broadcast after the president's speech.
Wrright said if Congress approves the
11.9 percent boost in authorized mil
itary spending that Reagan seeks for
the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1, "we'd
be spending almost four times as much
on the military by the end of this
decade as the nation spent during the
height of the Vietnam War."
Wright criticized "glaring waste,"
such as $400 hammers and $7,600 cof
fee pots, and said "even the Pentagon
should be held to strict standards of
accountability in spending taxpayers'
money."
Reagan, defending his administra
tion against charges of wasteful and
memoes' irauauient aelense speny-
the closet.
"Those few who have cheated tax
payers or have swindled our armed for
ces with faulty equipment are thieves
stealing from the arsenal of demo
cracy," he said, promising to prosecute
them "to the fullest extent of the law."
But even one of the president's most
loyal supporters on Capitol Hill re
mained skeptical that Reagan could
achieve the Pentagon budget he is
seeking.
"I'm going to do my best to support
the president's request, but I recognize
full well he is not going to get every
thing he is asking for," House Republi
can leader Robert Michel said as he left
a White House meeting several hours
before the speech.
'85 'Statistical
Abstract' full of
'just the facts'
WASHINGTON - What is
America's most popular leisure
activity? Do more men or women
wear seat belts? Vhat, plwe of
Americans haW hd health irisur-;
? l ne answers nower guucn
ing, women and 15 percent are
among millions of facts
jammed into the 985 pages of the
government's compendium of
essential and esoteric detail, the
Statistical Abstract of the Uni
ted States.
The 106th edition of the volume,
subtitled "National Data Book
and Guide to Sources", went on
sale in government bookstores
Wednesday at $27 a copy, or $22
for the paperback version.
Neither the price nor the lack
of plot prevents the volume from
being a hit among those folks
who love numbers and details
about most any subject.