Aquino Should Stop Blocking Marcos Bid to Move On: Shultz

Secretary of State George P. Shultz said today that the Philippine government of Corazon Aquino should stop making it hard for ousted President Ferdinand E. Marcos to find a new home outside the United States.

Shultz, briefing reporters after a meeting between President Reagan and Philippine Vice President Salvador Laurel, said the U.S. government would like to see Marcos able to move from Hawaii if he wishes.

“If he wishes to go to another country, the government of the Philippines should not discourage that, and he should be provided with a passport,” Shultz said.

The secretary also said that Marcos, living in exile in Honolulu, is “a free man” in a free country and that he’s entitled to make phone calls to the news media and to his supporters in the Philippines.

Asked whether the Administration has told Marcos that it feels that such calls are not a good idea, Shultz replied: “Certainly.”

‘We Don’t Put Restrictions’

But, Shultz added, “he can talk to the press any time he wants to, he can use the telephone. We don’t put restrictions on people in their access to the press and access to our communications system.”

Shultz spoke after a series of Reagan meetings with Asian leaders. It was the first time the U.S. President has met with an official of the new Philippine government since it took power in late February.

But Shultz denied that anything should be read into the delay, saying the United States strongly supports the new government led by Aquino--and not the old regime.

However, the secretary was less charitable toward Laurel.

The Philippine vice president the day before had said that “cobwebs of doubt” remained among some Filipinos over Reagan’s true political sympathies and that the face-to-face session with Reagan should help clear them away.

‘You’ll Have to Ask Him’

But Shultz declined to assess the impact of the meeting in such terms. “Since Vice President Laurel used that expression, you’ll have to ask him if the cobwebs are still there,” the secretary told reporters.

Laurel, interviewed on the NBC “Today” show, said his meeting with Reagan “clarified one thing in particular, and that is that President Reagan and the United States government recognized the new government of President Aquino as the rightful or legitimate government of the Filipino people and does not recognize Mr. Marcos as president.”

Shultz also took issue with Laurel’s request that the United States give the Aquino government greater help in recovering the billions in Philippine cash and treasures that Marcos is alleged to hold.

Instead, Shultz said that the Administration would like to see the issue resolved in the courts and not through U.S. intervention.

Asked whether Reagan had given Laurel sufficient assurances of the U.S. Administration’s support of the new Philippine government, Shultz said:

Reagan ‘Not on Trial’

“You will have to ask Mr. Laurel if he is satisfied. Let me remind you the President is not on trial here.”

Shultz, who will visit the Philippines later this month, said the Administration has taken great pains to demonstrate its support for the new government--including proposing a package of $150 million in additional aid.

“Vice President Laurel, I must say, gave the impression that his needs were infinite, and we don’t have infinite capacity to provide money,” Shultz said.

He declined to elaborate on a telephone call Reagan made to Marcos last weekend while the President was in Hawaii. Laurel had said earlier that Shultz told him that in the phone call, Reagan urged Marcos to abandon hopes of regaining power.

Shultz denied that the exchanges between Reagan, Laurel and himself were “testy.”