Advises U.S. Businessmen to ‘Get Off the Dime’ : Shultz Urges Investments to Aid Aquino

Secretary of State George P. Shultz on Wednesday urged that U.S. businessmen “get off the dime” and invest in the Philippines if the government of President Corazon Aquino is to succeed in the crucial task of reviving the islands’ devastated economy.

Shultz, in a speech to the Foreign Policy Assn. in New York carried by closed-circuit radio here, said the Reagan Administration is strongly committed to supporting Aquino. But more important, he said, the private sector in the Philippines must pull its weight to restore confidence and reverse the flight of capital that characterized the later stages of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ 20-year rule.

“If stability and development in the Philippines are to be attained, however, the American private sector must get off the dime and look aggressively at investment opportunities,” Shultz said. “Real money and attractive real rates of return are involved.”

Calling himself a “former businessman”--a reference to his brief service with the Bechtel Corp. of San Francisco--Shultz voiced confidence that “American investors who come in early and for the long haul will reap large benefits.”

“I’m bullish on the Philippines,” he declared. “The manner in which the Filipino people and their new leaders have overcome nearly impossible odds to restore democracy in their country gives me good cause for optimism.”

Shultz bestowed extraordinary praise on Aquino, comparing her first 100 days in office with the first 100 days of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. But he noted that Roosevelt had more than 100 days to “think and plan” between being elected and taking office. Aquino, he said, had to begin dealing immediately with the political and economic crisis and a continuing Communist insurgency.

‘Off and Running’

“It is still early in her tenure,” Shultz said. “But already she has dispelled many initial uncertainties. Her government is off and running hard and it is headed in the right direction.”

The secretary warned that the toughest problem is the insurgency, whose leaders “are not rural reformers or developmental democrats” but “dedicated Communists with a track record of appalling brutality.”

Shultz said that his meeting with army Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos and other top commanders in Manila left him convinced that military reform is under way and that the army’s leaders are “returning to their traditional role as an apolitical professional force.”

Despite the erosion of the once-prosperous economy, Shultz said that he saw some favorable signs: an educated work force, falling interest rates and a $600-million gain in reserves from $1 billion since Aquino took power.

The declines in world oil prices and international interest rates could produce a net gain for the Philippines this year of $800 million, he said, “and that ain’t hay.”

While budget restrictions will prevent the United States from providing more than its already promised package of $500 million in economic aid and a little more than $100 million in military aid, Shultz said, he repeated a pledge made during his Manila visit that Washington will lead a global effort to raise $2 billion in credits from Japan and the European allies.