Marcos ‘Tired and Fed Up’ but ‘Forced to Run Again’

President Ferdinand E. Marcos said Sunday that he is “tired and fed up” after being in power for 20 years but is seeking a fresh mandate to prevent a bloodbath in the Philippines.

“I want to rest already, but when I think of the danger faced by our country I am forced to run again to preserve our democracy,” he told a crowd of about 6,000 at a rally in Rizal province near Manila.

His statement came as the Communist Party of the Philippines was reported to have ordered a boycott of the Feb. 7 presidential election.

Marcos, 68, repeated earlier assertions that if opposition candidate Corazon Aquino is elected, her Communist supporters will seize power and plunge the country into civil war.

‘Scare Tactics’ Charged

But Aquino and running mate Salvador Laurel, campaigning in Samar and Leyte provinces in the central Philippines, accused Marcos of raising the specter of communism “to divert the peoples’ attention away from the real grievances of political repression and economic mismanagement of his 20-year rule.” They said people should not be misled by his “scare tactics.”

The Communist Party, accused by Marcos of supporting Aquino, Sunday reportedly ordered its members and sympathizers to boycott the election, which it described as “a meaningless but noisy electoral contest between local reactionaries.”

A Central Committee memorandum published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer said the “bourgeois opposition” has no clear program of government, while Marcos is determined to remain in office by fair or foul means.

No Fair Election

It would therefore not be “a free and democratic election where the people can express their real sentiments and effectively press for their struggle to oust the Marcos clique and dismantle the fascist dictatorship,” the party memorandum said.