U.S. Arms Aid to Marcos in Peril : Growing Bipartisan Consensus Favors Suspending Military Help

A strong bipartisan consensus is building in Congress in favor of suspending military aid to the Philippines as a result of President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ victory in an election marred by widespread fraud, congressional leaders said Tuesday.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) and Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.), chairman of the Asian and Pacific subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, both said they will draft legislation to place future military aid to the Philippines into an escrow account and to redirect economic aid to private groups.

Lugar, who headed a presidentially appointed observer delegation that witnessed numerous examples of fraud during the Feb. 7 Philippine election, said there is a “fairly broad consensus” that aid should be suspended until the regime in Manila is legitimately elected.

Ready Later in Week

Solarz said his bill will be ready for action by the House Foreign Affairs Committee later this week. Lugar’s committee is expected to draft legislation next week, after the return of presidential envoy Philip C. Habib from Manila. Both expect strong bipartisan support.

At the White House, spokesman Larry Speakes said it would be “premature” to discuss an aid cutoff before hearing Habib’s report. Before the election, President Reagan announced that he would continue to support aid for the Philippines no matter what the outcome.

Although Speakes also insisted that it is too early to consider relocating two U.S. military bases now in the Philippines, he added: “Our observation is that without a strong democratic system in the Philippines, the bases themselves would be in jeopardy.”

The depth of sentiment in both parties is to be tested today, when the Senate will vote on a bipartisan resolution saying that the elections were “marked by such widespread fraud that they cannot be considered a reflection of the will of the people of the Philippines” and calling on Reagan to express this concern to Marcos and his opponent, Corazon Aquino.

Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.) predicted that the resolution will pass unanimously. His aides said the resolution was drafted jointly by Dole and Senate Minority Leader Robert C. Byrd (D-W.Va.) to head off an anticipated wave of measures offered by members of both parties.

Calls for New Vote

Byrd also called for new elections unless a coalition government can be formed.

“I think that unless the faith of the people there can be restored and unless democracy can be made to work, I don’t see how (Marcos) can last,” he said.

At the same time, Dole insisted on weakening the Senate resolution somewhat to satisfy the Administration. The original version declared that the elections were fraudulent and called on the President to “personally and directly convey this finding” to Marcos. But the revised version said that the elections were “marked by . . . widespread fraud” and called on Reagan to convey U.S. “concern” to Marcos and Aquino.

The legislation being considered by Solarz and Lugar would place military aid to the Philippines into an escrow account until the United States is satisfied that a democratically elected government is in power in Manila. The Senate and House bills probably would not be identical, however.

Lugar’s aides indicated that the senator would make the restoration of U.S. military aid contingent on military reform in the Philippines. Solarz’s proposed legislation would contain no such qualifications.

Both Lugar and Solarz also would redirect economic aid through private groups and the Roman Catholic Church, instead of giving it directly to the Marcos regime.

Under legislation passed last year, the Philippines is slated to receive nearly $250 million in U.S. aid this fiscal year, as well as in fiscal 1987. This includes $119 million in economic aid; $14 million through the foreign military sales fund; $38 million in military assistance grants, and $78 million in military construction money each year.

Dole, meanwhile, is drafting legislation that would require the Administration to conduct an expedited study into alternative sites for the United States’ two military bases on the Philippines--Subic Bay Naval Station and Clark Air Base. Administration officials estimated that moving the bases would cost $5 billion to $8 billion.

A different approach was proposed by Sen. Jim Sasser (D-Tenn.), who introduced legislation that would simply rescind all aid to the Philippines. Sasser’s proposal is not expected to win much support, however, in competition with bills by Lugar and Solarz.

“Not until President Marcos is faced with the reality that the United States is willing to exercise other options to Clark and Subic will he agree to call new elections and institute prompt military, social and economic reforms,” Sasser said.