U.S. Pledges to Help Raise $2 Billion for Philippines

Secretary of State George P. Shultz, reversing the Reagan Administration’s previous stand, pledged Tuesday that Washington will help raise $2 billion in international aid so that Philippine President Corazon Aquino can deal with “a real mess” in her country’s economy.

Shultz’s remarks represented a marked departure from those he made two weeks ago, when he complained after a meeting in Bali, Indonesia, with Philippine Vice President Salvador Laurel that Laurel “gave the impression that his needs were infinite and we don’t have infinite capacity to provide money.” That comment drew criticism from Filipino and U.S. congressional leaders.

And after Shultz visited Manila last week with a similar message, Aquino said she was reconciled to the prospect of not receiving an increase in U.S. aid this year.

However, in an appearance Tuesday on the NBC “Today” program, Shultz said the Administration is seeking to add $150 million in aid for the Philippines this year--raising the total to $605 million. Moreover, he said, “they need more--there is no doubt about it.”

Aquino has estimated that her nation needs $2 billion in aid to help her repair the economic damage attributed to the 20-year rule of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

Cardinal Jaime Sin, Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila and a major force in the ouster of Marcos, also appeared on Tuesday’s “Today” program and said that Aquino should be able to restore the shattered economy “within three years” if she gets the help that has been requested.

In addition, Sin charged that Marcos and his “cronies” are paying for demonstrations against Aquino. “To prove this, we sent men (to the demonstrations), and they got money,” the prelate said.

Sin said the source of such funding was “the cronies,” referring to the inner circle of Marcos supporters who remain in Manila. “Marcos still has money in the Philippines, too,” he said.

The cardinal, smiling and relaxed, voiced confidence that Aquino will resolve the economic problems confronting the country and will settle the continuing Communist insurgency.

“I would compare it to a lizard with its tail cut off,” he said of the New People’s Army, which still confronts Aquino’s troops in almost every part of the islands. “The tail is continuing moving, but it will stop.”

Sin also said doubts were raised about Administration support for the Aquino government when President Reagan telephoned Marcos during a visit to Honolulu en route to the recent economic summit in Tokyo. However, he said, such questions were raised “in the minds of many, but not in mine.”

U.S. Action Urged

The cardinal urged Washington to accept Aquino’s request that Marcos not be allowed to leave U.S. territory until the Philippines can recover government funds he may have acquired illegally.

In his television appearance, Shultz said the United States will need the help of allies such as Japan, Australia and the Western European nations in raising the $2 billion in proposed aid.

“We need help to do that, and we’d like to get them more money from here, but the congressional picture, or the budget picture, I should say, just doesn’t seem to allow that,” he said.

Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was among the first to criticize Shultz’s earlier comments expressing reluctance to provide more aid to the Philippines. At that time, Lugar said he hoped that the Administration would show more confidence in the Aquino government.

Shultz voiced that confidence Tuesday, saying that Aquino is “taking the right steps” in restructuring the economy, reforming the military and dealing with political problems inherited by her regime.