Would Reward Honest Filipino Vote--Reagan

President Reagan said today that the United States will consider increasing its military and economic aid to the Philippines if next week’s presidential election is honest and the winner undertakes needed reforms.

In a written formal statement, Reagan said he will send an official U.S. delegation to observe the Feb. 7 election that “is of great importance to the future of democracy in the Philippines, a major friend and ally of the United States in the Pacific.”

The President gave no figures on the increase in assistance he may recommend for the Manila government, which currently receives $180 million in military aid and $35 million to $40 million in economic assistance.

‘Friend and Ally’

“I believe this is an important time for America to respond to the problems of a friend and ally at a critical juncture in its history,” Reagan said.

“If the will of the Filipino people is expressed in an election that Filipinos accept as credible--and if whoever is elected undertakes fundamental economic, political and military reforms--we should consider, in consultation with the Congress, a significantly larger program of economic and military assistance for the Philippines for the next five years,” he said.

“This would be over and above the current levels of assistance we are providing,” Reagan added.

At the same time, Reagan warned that the Communist Party of the Philippines, is “pursuing a classic military and political strategy intended to lead eventually to a totalitarian takeover of the Philippines. The Communist strategy can be defeated.”

A Time of Struggle

He said the election “comes at a time when the Philippines is struggling with the urgent need to reestablish a political consensus, restructure the economy and rebuild a sense of military professionalism.”

Reagan said that President Ferdinand E. Marcos has invited the United States to send observers to the election. Administration officials said that they expect the observer team, about 20 members made up of both parties along with a group of distinguished citizens, to be announced Friday.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has already announced that he will be one of the observers.