Aquino Says She’d Consult People on New U.S. Treaty

Presidential candidate Corazon Aquino said today that she would consult other countries in the region and “above all” the Philippine people before signing any new treaty on the future of U.S. military bases here.

Aquino, who is challenging President Ferdinand E. Marcos in this Friday’s special election, also said election fraud could make it difficult for her to win.

“The road to Malacanang (the presidential palace) grows darker as Election Day approaches,” she told nearly 3,000 Filipino and foreign businessmen at a luncheon in a suburban hotel. “Sinister plans to cheat the people of their liberation are afoot.”

Earlier, Aquino said she would need about two-thirds of the vote to overcome “massive cheating” from Marcos. “My advisers tell me it would have to be 65-35,” she said. She also confirmed that she and Marcos will make their only joint appearance of the campaign on this Wednesday’s ABC television program “Nightline.”

The present treaty allowing the United States to operate at Clark Air Base and Subic Bay Navy Base north of Manila will expire in 1991.

Aquino told the luncheon guests that she would honor the treaty but said, “I must state with candor that no sovereign nation should consent that a portion of its territory be a perpetual possession of a foreign power.”

Aquino has avoided stating categorically that she would retain the U.S. bases beyond 1991, while Marcos has pledged to keep them but says he wants U.S. obligations made clearer.