U.S. Might Overlook Rigged Marcos Vote

White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan said Sunday that even if a rigged vote leads to the reelection of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, the United States “would have to do business” with him.

Regan was asked in a television interview about Philippine opposition charges that vote tampering is likely in next month’s election and how the United States would respond if Marcos were returned to office as a result.

“Well, we’d condemn the fraud,” Regan said in the interview on ABC’s “This Week with David Brinkley.” But without a pause he continued, “If it’s a duly elected government and so certified, we’d have to do business with it.”

Regan’s questioner persisted: Even if the victory were plainly the result of widespread fraud?

“Well, there are a lot of governments elected by fraud,” Regan replied. “How about Angola?”

The United States has two major military bases in the Philippines and long has backed the Marcos government. That support has cooled recently as a sagging regime headed by an ailing Marcos has faced mounting economic and political problems and a growing Communist-led insurgency.

In the Philippines, where he is facing Corazon Aquino in the Feb. 7 election, Marcos on Sunday ordered schools closed nationwide 10 days before the voting, a move that opponents charged could be for some sinister purpose.

Attorney Rene Saguisag, a spokesman for Aquino, said the school-closing move “has no logic . . . but it’s consistent with some of the more sinister scenarios we have been hearing about.”

Saguisag said the opposition has feared that Marcos may try to create an air of public uncertainty followed by “faked disorders and then cancellation of the election.”

Later, Marcos was greeted by 10,000 people at a campaign rally in a sports stadium. The crowd cheered and whistled as Marcos signed decrees providing new benefits for more than 500,000 Filipinos working in foreign lands and making illegal recruiting of workers an act of “economic sabotage,” punishable by up to life in prison.

On Friday, Marcos announced a rollback in prices of petroleum products, and on Saturday he ordered reductions in power and transportation rates.

“This is a very cynical and transparent attempt to bribe the people,” Saguisag said.