2 Leaders Renounce Marcos, Seize Bases : U.S. Moving Toward Split With Marcos

The Reagan Administration edged closer to an open break with Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos on Saturday as the White House stopped just short of endorsing dramatic calls for his resignation by the country’s defense minister and deputy armed forces chief.

Questioning the “credibility and legitimacy” of Marcos’ reelection Feb. 7, a statement issued by the White House said the Administration shared the concerns of rebellious military leaders who have seized control of the nation’s military headquarters and pledged their support to opposition leader Corazon Aquino.

The carefully worded statement took note of the demands by Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, the deputy armed forces chief of staff.

Reinforced Concerns

“These statements strongly reinforce our concerns that the recent presidential elections were marred by fraud, perpetrated overwhelmingly by the ruling party, so extreme as to undermine the credibility and legitimacy of the election and impair the capacity of the government of the Philippines to cope with a growing (Communist) insurgency and a troubled economy,” the statement said.

The statement quoted extensively from Enrile and Ramos, who said they were acting on behalf of the Philippine people. “They called on him (Marcos) to step down because his government no longer has a popular mandate,” the White House said.

The statement, issued in the name of White House Deputy Press Secretary Larry Speakes, was approved by Reagan earlier in the day, according to a White House spokesman.

Conference Call

The President, who is spending the weekend at his mountain retreat at Camp David, Md., approved the statement after a conference call with his national security adviser, John M. Poindexter, Secretary of State George P. Shultz, Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger and White House Chief of Staff Donald T. Regan.

White House spokesman Edward P. Djerejian declined to say whether the statement amounted to a call from the United States for Marcos to accede to the wishes of his defense minister and step down.

“Read the statement,” he said. “It’s all there.”

Late Saturday afternoon, the State Department advised Americans “to postpone non-essential travel to the Philippines at this time” because of the turmoil there.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Melcher (D-Mont.) said that the U.S. Navy has offered to provide a submarine tender to rescue Aquino from the central island of Cebu if she comes under attack from government forces. Aquino, the widow of slain opposition leader Benigno S. Aquino Jr., was leading an anti-government rally in Cebu City, the island nation’s second-largest metropolis, when the rebellion began in Manila. Her aides said Saturday that she was safe.

“Our government, through the (U.S.) embassy, was asked, ‘Could Cory Aquino get some protection down there?’ ” Melcher said he was told by an aide to Adm. William J. Crowe Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “They said the ship was nearby and offered it in case it was needed.”

The Navy declined immediate comment on Melcher’s statement, while the State Department denied that it had received such a request on behalf of Aquino. However, a department official who asked not to be named added, “We would, as is our general practice, seek to respond appropriately to any legitimate concerns about personal safety.”

‘Matter of Days’

Congressional critics of Marcos said the developments should hasten the downfall of the Philippine strongman after 20 years in office, much of it as a virtual dictator.

“It could be just a matter of days to two weeks at the outside,” said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who witnessed the fraud-tainted Feb. 7 election as part of an official American observer team.

But Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.), the influential chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees U.S. relations with the island nation, said in a telephone interview that the situation is so tense that “civil war could erupt at any moment.” Solarz called on Reagan to state flatly that he wants to see Marcos out.

“What we need are not artfully ambiguous statements (from the White House) but clear calls that the time has come for Marcos to step aside,” said Solarz, whose panel last week endorsed legislation to impound U.S. military aid to the Philippines until Marcos resigns. “There’s no other way this crisis can be resolved without bloodshed.”

Enrile said at a Manila press conference that he and Ramos acted only after they learned that Marcos had planned to arrest the two of them, as well as opposition leaders and members of a military reform movement.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called on the White House to “protest vigorously” Marcos’ planned treatment of Enrile and Ramos and suggested that the Philippine president engineered the latest crisis to coincide with the end of a fact-finding trip to the Philippines by Reagan’s special envoy Philip C. Habib.

“It’s a strange coincidence,” Lugar said when asked by reporters if the events were linked to Habib’s departure Saturday. “ . . . One hour after Phil Habib leaves the country, this happening is beyond our understanding.”

Habib arrived back in Washington on Saturday night.

Led Observer Team

Lugar, who led the American observer team at the elections, said the defections of Enrile and Ramos underscore his conviction that Marcos “will have to face reality” and quit.

“He has lost the (Catholic) church, he has lost the middle class and clearly he is now in the process of losing the military support,” Lugar said. “ . . . He may decide to hang on for a period of time, but I think it’s rapidly approaching the time when he must make some decisions on behalf of peace and stability.”

The White House statement also noted that many prominent Filipinos, including Cardinal Jaime Sin, the archbishop of Manila, had issued a call for calm and nonviolence.

“We support these voices and expect them to be respected,” the statement said. “We also support resolution of the issues involved by all the people of the Philippines as quickly as possible.”

Call to Manila

Melcher said he spoke by telephone Saturday afternoon Washington time with Ramos, who was in his office at Camp Aguinaldo, the Defense Ministry headquarters in the Manila suburb of Quezon City.

“He said he had the backing of a number of the units he maintained, especially in the air force,” Melcher said Ramos told him. The senator said that Ramos added, with a touch of exaggeration: “Our protection is the million people that are surrounding Camp Aguinaldo.”