Fight Aquino, Marcos Says in Call to Rally in Manila

In a live telephone hookup between Hawaii and a rally in a downtown Manila park, deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos told more than 15,000 cheering supporters Sunday that he is still their “legitimate president,” and he urged Filipinos to fight against the government of President Corazon Aquino.

“I am ready to fight,” Marcos said over giant loudspeakers mounted on the stage of the rally. “But I am not there. It’s up to you to fight for what we’ve been fighting for, which is nothing but freedom and justice.”

Speaking to a Filipino interviewer from his residence-in-exile in Honolulu, Marcos added that the February civilian and military coup that drove him from power was “the biggest robbery in political history.”

He charged Aquino, who has said she will not allow Marcos to return to the Philippines, with abusing the basic human rights of Filipinos in her attempts to purge the nation of Marcos’ friends and supporters.

“They say it is a revolutionary government--a provisional government--but why do they kill people? Why do they raid private homes?” Marcos asked.

He was referring to casualties among his supporters during recent protests against Aquino’s dismissals of local pro-Marcos officials and to dozens of raids by Aquino’s Commission on Good Government on homes and corporations owned by Marcos’ friends and relatives. Aquino accuses those individuals of looting the nation for two decades.

Throughout the 20-minute dialogue, Marcos showed he is being kept well-informed of recent events in the Philippines. At one point, he asserted that Aquino’s military forces attacked the provincial capitol in Marawi on the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday and killed several Marcos loyalists who were protesting the removal of the provincial governor.

There were conflicting official reports here Sunday on the Marawi conflict, but the Ministry of Defense denied that anyone was killed. A spokesman for Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile said that paramilitary troops entered the capitol to remove about 100 armed supporters of local Gov. Ali Dimoporo, a personal friend and ally of Marcos. The spokesman added that the loyalists surrendered peacefully.

Concerning recent ambushes by Communist insurgents that have left more than 60 civilians, rebels and soldiers dead in the last week, Marcos charged that Aquino is failing to bring peace in the 17-year rebellion because she is being too soft on the rebel leaders.

Marcos also urged the crowd Sunday to remain nonviolent in their demonstrations against the Aquino government.

Weeping First Lady

Although Marcos’ voice sounded strong and his tone firm, former First Lady Imelda Marcos wept aloud, and her voice cracked constantly during a brief statement broadcast to the crowd.

“The president is here in Hawaii like me, but our hearts and our minds are with you,” she said, sobbing. “We were stripped of our citizenship . . . but still, I love you all. Long live the Filipinos. You are the most beautiful race in the country.”

The peaceful crowd listened to the Marcos couple’s speeches largely with dispassion. They applauded and cheered on cues from the rally organizers on stage.

Throughout the rally, the organizers led the crowd in chants insulting President Aquino, describing her as a dictator and “a smelly fish,” and denouncing President Reagan and the foreign press, whom many in the crowd said they blame for the rebellion that drove Marcos from the country Feb. 25.