Marcos Declares Emergency, Pledges to ‘Wipe Out’ Rebels : Cites Panic, Takes Over Radio and TV

President Ferdinand E. Marcos decreed a state of emergency in the Philippines today in response to false broadcasts by church-controlled Radio Veritas that his government had been overthrown, that he had fled the country and that a new revolutionary government had been installed.

Using powers he assumed under the decree, Marcos declared, “All police and military are now on notice that we are in a state of emergency, and the government has given notice to all radio and television stations that they are now controlled by the government.” He added that the “emergency situation is part of the constitution of every government” and said the declaration was needed because “radio stations are causing panic in the country.”

In an earlier address to the nation by television, Marcos pledged to “wipe out” a rebellion against him led by two of his key aides.

Army Base Reoccupied

Six hours after that earlier address, a column of marines loyal to Marcos used tear gas and truncheons to clear civilian demonstrators away from their path and at dawn today reoccupied an army base seized Saturday by the two aides in their uprising.

The base, Camp Aguinaldo, which contains the Philippine Defense Ministry, was abandoned by the rebels Sunday so they could concentrate their forces at adjacent Camp Crame, which they consider easier to defend.

Marcos was obviously furious when he went on television with his pledge to destroy the rebel leaders in Camp Crame.

Jabbing fingers into the air and slamming his fist on the desk, Marcos charged in a midnight Sunday address to the nation that former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, are part of “a new power group trying to seize power” from both him and the nation’s political opposition.

‘Let the Blood Flow’

He accused them of sedition, open rebellion and conspiring to overthrow his government and said he will “let the blood flow” if the two rebel leaders continue to demand his resignation as their only condition of surrender.

Vowing never to resign, Marcos declared, “I have all the power in my hands to put an end to this rebellion when we decide enough is enough.”

The marines in battle gear who reoccupied Camp Aguinaldo dispersed hundreds of people demonstrating there in support of Enrile and Ramos in Camp Crame, which is located just across a wide street from Camp Aguinaldo.

Witnesses said some students tried to link arms to stop or block the marines, and radio reports from the scene said many people fell as they tried to escape the troops.

But there were no immediate reports of anyone being seriously hurt, and there were no clashes between loyalist and rebel military forces during the reoccupation of the camp.

In another development this morning, Gregorio Cendena, Marcos’ information minister, moved to end a flurry of confusion in this capital caused by a report broadcast by the Roman Catholic Church-operated Radio Veritas that Marcos and his family had fled the country.

“There is absolutely no truth to the Radio Veritas report,” Cendena said, and the government television channel soon afterward broadcast a live scene from Malacanang Palace, the president’s home, showing Marcos and members of his family.

Marcos’ midnight television address marked a radical departure from his earlier pledge to use all peaceful means to solve the crisis in his 200,000-man military.

The speech was made several hours after thousands of middle-class civilian demonstrators armed only with banners and flowers had turned aside a move made by Marcos forces on Sunday to take back Camp Aguinaldo.

The demonstrators, most of them supporters of opposition presidential candidate Corazon Aquino, stopped the loyalist troops by refusing to move from the path of the armored force, which did not use tear gas or make any other forceful effort to break through the human barrier.

Inside Camp Crame on Sunday, Ramos told reporters that his band of rebels, although heavily armed, is “a mismatch” for Marcos’ tanks and artillery. But he quickly added: “There is a more powerful weapon system at our disposal--people power. And people power is sufficient to support the New Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

Public Relations Effort

At the same time, Ramos launched a public relations campaign of his own. In a series of Sunday meetings at Camp Crame, Ramos declared to Aquino’s aides and to other opposition leaders that he and Enrile have the support of the majority of the military.

The rebel leaders also reiterated their determination not to surrender until Marcos resigns. They accuse him of gaining reelection illegally, through fraud and intimidation of voters, in the Feb. 7 balloting.

Top aides to Aquino, who is leading a nationwide protest movement against Marcos in an effort to force his resignation, said they fully support the mutiny.

Aquino herself returned to Manila on Sunday from the island of Cebu. She said that she wanted to visit Enrile and Ramos to congratulate them for their stand but that her security officials had advised against it. Instead, she sent them a short written message of support.

Accused of Ambition

Asked about Marcos’ assertion in his television speech that Enrile, due to political ambition, had engineered the rebellion to gain power for himself, one top Aquino adviser who asked not to be named said, “What a bunch of bull!”

Opposition leaders said Marcos’ retreat Sunday from his earlier vow to deal with the current crisis only through peaceful negotiation was an indication that he is worried about losing control of the armed forces. These leaders described the military as already badly demoralized by charges of corruption and human rights abuses, most of them attributed to the military factions most loyal to the president.

Ramos stressed the same theme in press conferences and radio addresses from inside Camp Crame on Sunday.

Ramos, a career soldier who worked his way up from the ranks, repeatedly listed regions and provinces where he said local commanders have personally pledged their allegiance to him. Many of them are the same commanders who Marcos also claimed Sunday were on his side.

‘Die a Ripe Old Age’

Ramos, a soft-spoken officer who once served Marcos loyally, said his group plans to isolate the president in the coming days to such an extent that “he’ll just die a ripe old age all alone inside the presidential palace.”

Such charges from men once so close to him, Marcos said in his television address, are “disgracing and shameful. . . . I am ashamed that they (Enrile and Ramos) are Filipinos.”

Responding to an assertion by Ramos that Marcos may be dying, the 68-year-old president, who is reported to be suffering from a debilitating kidney disease, shouted, “If they think that I am sick, I might even want to lead the troops to Enrile and Ramos myself!

“I am as strong as ever,” he continued. “I am just like an old warhorse, smelling powder and getting stronger than ever.”

During a Sunday press conference and meetings with opposition leaders that included members of the leftist group Bayan, Ramos and Enrile sounded confident.

Warned of Casualties

“I hope the forces of Marcos will not try to assault the perimeter of this camp, because they will suffer heavy casualties,” said Enrile, who, along with his men, has said he is willing to die rather than surrender to Marcos.

In the United States, all three major television networks devoted their Sunday interview shows to the developing crisis in the Philippines.

Enrile said on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press” that he had told an emissary to advise Marcos that the “bottom-line demand” of the dissident leadership was that “he must step down.”

On ABC-TV’s “This Week With David Brinkley” and later on the CBS-TV program “Face the Nation,” Enrile denied that the dissident group had received any pledges of support from the U.S. government. But as he denied any current contact with Washington during the CBS interview, Enrile added, “If they should find our just cause to be an opportunity to help us, we would welcome that.”

Question of Leaving

Asked on the ABC program whether he felt that Marcos should be allowed to leave the country if he is persuaded to step down, Enrile replied that “that will depend on him.”

“If he will depart peacefully and wants to live anywhere in the world, that is a matter that perhaps we can work out. . . . “ Enrile said. “There is no intention on the part of anybody to harm him or his family.”

Enrile conceded that Marcos may well refuse to step aside and instead “depend upon his aging generals and some of the troops to crush” public demonstrations against him. But he advised against such a course, arguing that “our soldiery will never attack or kill our people to sustain in power a man that they perceive to be no longer wanted by the Filipino people.”

During the NBC interview, Enrile said he hoped for a peaceable solution but felt that there would be “some amount of violence,” while Ramos made no prediction but said the anti-Marcos group was “very much in favor of achieving a nonviolent solution.”

Power of the People

Ramos conceded that the dissidents do not now have “the military hardware to resist the attacks we feel are forthcoming or being contemplated by Mr. Marcos,” but he said the group is counting on “people’s power.”

In a similar vein, Enrile said he believed that “we have enough military capability, plus the support of the people, to accomplish what we have embarked to do.”

Reminded on CBS that Marcos had claimed to have military superiority and had declared on Philippine television that if the rebellious leaders refuse to negotiate for a peaceful solution, “let the blood that flows be on their conscience,” Enrile turned the quotation around. He declared that if Marcos “wants to make the blood of Filipinos flow, it will be his responsibility.”

“We do not want blood,” Enrile continued, “but if blood must be spilled in order to regain the freedom of our people, then so be it.”

Times staff writer Don Irwin in Washington contributed to this story.