Aquino Blames Marcos for Foreign Debt : Says Philippine President ‘Helped Himself’ in ‘Borrowing Binge’

Foreign bankers have put the Philippines on a punishing “short leash” that only a change in the presidency can relieve, opposition candidate Corazon Aquino said Monday.

Austerity measures imposed by the International Monetary Fund “can only make us poorer than we already are, and extend even longer the period of our economic bondage,” Aquino declared.

She put the blame on the 20-year rule of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, her opponent in the Feb. 7 presidential elections.

“It is true that external factors, as well as a longstanding structure of dependency on the Western economies, contributed greatly to our decline,” she said. “But instead of helping the country to free itself from this dependency, Marcos helped himself to the economy.”

Addressing a Manila business forum in the first of a series of speeches outlining her policies, Aquino said Marcos went on a “borrowing binge” that raised the foreign debt to $26 billion or more.

“These borrowings should have gone to the purchase of productive assets that, in time, would have paid for themselves,” she said. “They went instead into ill-conceived projects and to pay for scandalous kickbacks. . . . Marcos has been good for his economy, but not for ours.

“This point, however, seems to be lost on the international bankers. As far as they are concerned, the money was borrowed in the name of the Philippines, and it is the Philippines that must pay.”

Aquino did not suggest that she would renege on the loans if she was elected, but she said she would seek better terms.

“The harsh character of the present restructuring assumes a country under a leadership that must be kept, as the creditors themselves put it, on a short leash. . . . Much less stringent conditions are imposed on countries with new and credible leaderships, as in the case of Argentina.”

Several of the priorities outlined by Aquino were similar to the president’s proposed recovery program for the Philippines, whose economy has contracted for two straight years.

Both call for growth in the agricultural sector and self-sufficiency in food and for private businessmen to lead the way. But Aquino’s program puts heavier emphasis on social factors.

“There will be clear and stable rules . . . but there will be no special privileges for private business,” she said.

Her goals, she said, are to ease the pressures of poverty, unemployment and underemployment.

More specifically, Aquino pledged to end monopolistic practices in the sugar and coconut industries and to reduce onerous fuel and energy taxes.

She said that an Aquino government would welcome foreign investment, “but control of all utilities and natural resources will always be reserved for Filipinos.”

Answering questions after her address, Aquino rebuked Marcos spokesmen for suggesting that she might appoint Communists to her Cabinet.

“I will not appoint a Communist to my Cabinet,” she said, adding heatedly: “I do not know where Mr. Marcos gets his information. I would like to challenge him to finally name names. I am sick and tired of his saying I have 50 pink or red advisers.

“I would like to know who these people are. So, Mr. Marcos, either put up or shut up!”

Last week, Aquino said in response to a campaign question that she would not reject the support of Communists, provided they renounce the use of violence.

Marcos has made anti-communism a main theme of his campaign. Addressing a rally Monday in Cavite, south of Manila, he said the Communist-led New People’s Army is trying to disrupt the election campaign.

He also accused Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the late opposition leader and husband of Corazon Aquino, of organizing the Philippine Communist Party. Aquino was assassinated in 1983 at Manila airport. A civilian board of inquiry accused the military of complicity in the death, but a court acquitted Gen. Fabian C. Ver, the armed forces chief, and 25 other men on the charge.

The Marcos campaign was dealt a blow Monday when Leticia Ramos Shahani, U.N. assistant secretary general for social development and humanitarian affairs, confirmed her endorsement of Aquino.

A cousin of Marcos and the sister of Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos, the armed forces vice chief of staff, she has offered to resign from the Philippine foreign service, from which she is currently on leave.