Marcos Again Links Aquino to Communists

President Ferdinand E. Marcos on Tuesday again accused Corazon Aquino, his opponent in the February election, of having Communist advisers and rebuffed her criticism of his economic policies.

Repeating the anti-Communist refrain that has marked his campaign appearances, Marcos suggested that Aquino is endangering the country by courting Communist support. On Monday, Aquino challenged the president to name names and prove his charge that Communists or their sympathizers are among her advisers.

Marcos responded Tuesday at a large rally in Makati, Manila’s business district. He said Aquino was influenced by Jose Maria Sison, a founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, who has been jailed here since the early 1970s. The president also mentioned former Sen. Lorenzo Tanada, who has been a key figure in her camp and who is on leave from the chairmanship of the leftist organization Bayan.

May Lead Boycott

The Bayan group reportedly will lead a boycott of the Feb. 7 elections. The president also named the radical KMU labor alliance and Bandila, a leftist political grouping, as influential in the Aquino campaign.

Agapito Aquino, the younger brother of Benigno S. Aquino Jr., the opposition nominee’s assassinated husband, belongs to Bandila. He was briefly an officer of Bayan last spring but withdrew when reputed Communists began maneuvering for power in the organization. Corazon Aquino and those named by the president could not immediately be reached for a response.

Since the campaign for the presidential elections began in mid-December, Marcos has accused Aquino and her supporters of being soft on communism.

The country faces a growing Communist-led insurgency. On Monday, the armed forces raised its estimate of insurgent forces to 13,000, up from 12,500. U.S. authorities put the number at 16,500.