Aquino Seeks ‘Beautiful Friendship’ With Reagan

President Corazon Aquino said today she hopes to strike up a “beautiful friendship” with President Reagan during talks in Washington next week.

Aquino also said in an interview on state-run television that she is awaiting clarification of a communist statement widely interpreted as a rejection of a government proposal over the weekend for an immediate 30-day cease-fire.

If no successful talks are held with the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines, Aquino said, she will look “very carefully” into negotiating regional cease-fires.

“I am made to understand that some of these (local) leaders would like to strike a separate deal,” she said.

Earlier, Aquino presided over the first meeting of the National Security Council and the Cabinet and briefed her ministers on her planned eight-day visit to Washington, Boston, New York and San Francisco, to begin Monday.

‘A Very Happy Note’

“I think it is very important . . . President Reagan and I are able to strike on a very happy note and a friendly note,” Aquino said. “To really work well together, it is important that the two leaders begin a very beautiful friendship.”

Aquino said she hopes U.S.-Philippine relations will “not only proceed well but proceed at a much faster rate.”

Aquino is scheduled to arrive Monday night in Washington, where she will be met by Secretary of State George P. Shultz.

She is expected to meet Vice President George Bush on Tuesday and Reagan on Wednesday and address Congress Thursday before talks in New York with the heads of creditor banks on more favorable terms for repaying a record $26-billion foreign debt.

Asked for a message to her critics, Aquino said she would like the Filipino people to pray for a successful U.S. trip.