Marcos Mum on Questions About Murder

Former Philippines leader Ferdinand Marcos refused to answer key questions concerning the murders of two Seattle labor leaders on the grounds that it might compromise the national security of the Philippines, attorneys said Monday.

Marcos was questioned about the deaths of Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, leaders of the Seattle-based Alaska Cannery Workers Union, who were shot to death June 1, 1981.

Seattle attorneys Michael Withey and Jim Douglas said that the former president refused to answer questions “of substance” during the court-approved questioning in his rented beachfront home in Honolulu.

The videotaped deposition, which lasted 2 1/2 hours and was expected to conclude today, marked the first time Marcos has answered questions under oath. The videotapes were to be sealed under a court order.

Withey had said that if the exiled leader did not answer questions, he would seek a court order for him to do so.

“Then if he doesn’t answer, we’ll seek a contempt citation,” Withey said.

The families and associates of the two slain men claim in a $30-million federal wrongful death suit that the exiled leader ordered the murders because of the men’s anti-Marcos activities.

Marcos was dismissed as a defendant in the suit and granted immunity, but was ordered by federal court Judge Harold Fong to submit to questioning by the attorneys.

The plaintiffs say Marcos ordered Domingo and Viernes killed because of the activities against him in the United States and Viernes’ attempts to establish contact with left-wing labor leaders in the Philippines.

Three Filipino men were sentenced to life prison terms in Washington state for the murder convictions.