U.S. Observers, Under Attack by Marcos, Divided Over Extent of Electoral Abuse

The United States’ official observers at the Philippine presidential election woke up in the center of a political storm today, under attack by President Ferdinand E. Marcos for criticizing his government’s electoral abuses and divided among themselves over how severe their judgment should be.

The chairman of the delegation, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), charged on Saturday that Marcos’ regime was “massaging the result” of his hotly contested race against opposition candidate Corazon Aquino.

“It appears to me, as a politician, that someone is trying to manipulate the outcome of this election,” Lugar told cheering poll watchers on the central Philippine island of Cebu. “That disturbs me.”

Asked how extensive the vote fraud had been, Lugar said: “I’m sure it’s been significant. But whether it’s enough to frustrate the will of the people, I’m still not sure.”

Murtha Concerned

The delegation’s co-chairman, Rep. John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), said that he is also concerned about the irregularities.

“The count is clearly being held up,” he said after visiting the government’s Commission on Elections. “If it doesn’t get moving, it’s going to look pretty bad.”

Marcos struck back in a news conference at his presidential palace Saturday evening.

“Are they supposed to make a judgment?” asked Marcos, who has ruled the Philippines with increasing autocracy for 20 years. “I thought they were supposed to observe.”

The president’s political allies, taking the cue, were blunter.

“I think it’s clear that Sen. Lugar has stepped well beyond the proper role of an observer,” charged J.V. Cruz, a spokesman for the Marcos campaign.

“I hope the American people don’t share the views of the narrow-minded, imperialistic, reactionary representatives that have come here,” said Luis Taruc, a pro-Marcos member of the National Assembly. “The results of the election are up to the Assembly to decide, not the United States.”

Aquino Calls on U.S.

Opposition candidate Aquino, on the other hand, called on the U.S. delegation and the Reagan Administration to recognize her claim of victory in the election.

“Maybe they can again impress upon Mr. Marcos how very necessary it is for him to concede so that we will have a peaceful transition of government,” she told a news conference.

A spokesman for Lugar, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said today that the U.S. delegation would neither stop its criticism of irregularities in the voting nor declare a winner.

“We have defined our mission all along as viewing the process and making an interpretation of it,” said spokesman Mark Helmke. “We’re not going to certify the election. It’s the process we’re trying to talk about.”

But the 20-member U.S. delegation is also divided internally over how serious the election abuses were and what the Administration’s response should be.

Lugar has said he is most concerned about reports that thousands of voters in Manila, an Aquino stronghold, were prevented from casting ballots, that the government has deliberately delayed reporting the returns in some areas, and that the regime has obstructed the work of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), a volunteer poll-watching group.

Panel Members Divided

But several other Republican members of the panel said they were less certain that the abuses were significant.

“You can make general allegations, but we can’t pass judgment until we have a final return we can look at,” said Sen. Frank H. Murkowski (R-Alaska), another member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

Asked about the reports of voters being blocked from the polls, Murkowski said: “I don’t see that as that significant. There wasn’t all that much of it at the precincts I visited.”

Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) said he wondered whether the abuses were being exaggerated by Marcos’ opponents. “I was most impressed by the openness of the process,” he said. “I didn’t really see anything all that terrible.”

One member of the delegation, who asked not to be identified, said that a key member arguing against a statement criticizing Marcos was White House counsel Fred Fielding, the only Reagan Administration official in the group. Fielding did not respond to a reporter’s request for an interview.

Lugar asked some members of the delegation to meet today with the leadership of the National Movement for Free Elections, to hear their reports of nationwide abuses.

Will Seek Consensus

Then the delegation plans to closet itself inside the U.S. Embassy to try to reach a consensus on the conduct of the election, which it will report to President Reagan.

State Department officials have said they expect the delegation’s findings to have a major influence on Administration policy as well as on Congress as it considers proposals for U.S. aid to the Philippines.

“The repercussions (of the election) are likely to be substantial,” Lugar said. “This would be true regardless of the outcome.”

The free elections movement, a volunteer poll-watchers’ group, was a key third party in the controversy. Lugar has called the movement “our eyes and ears” on the conduct of the election and said that he will rely heavily on its findings.

But as the movement’s reports of fraud and abuse mounted, Marcos and his aides launched a campaign to discredit the group, charging its members with stealing ballots, assaulting policemen and announcing false results.

Clergy Among Leaders

The movement’s leaders, many of whom are Roman Catholic priests and nuns, acknowledge that most of their members are sympathetic to the Aquino campaign, but they insist that they have carried out their mission of guarding against fraud with impartiality.

Marcos spokesman Cruz scoffed at that.

‘It is clear that they are on the other side,” he charged.

“Anyway, Sen. Lugar is trying to apply American standards to a totally alien environment,” he added. “What might strike sophisticated American voters as despicable dirty tricks are taken for granted as part and parcel of our electoral process. To confuse the enemy--that’s part of the game.”