Senate Reverses Itself, Votes Philippine Aid

The Senate reversed itself Friday and endorsed a special $200-million aid package for the financially strapped Philippines as it finished work on a record $558-billion spending bill that would fund most government operations in fiscal 1987.

Wrapping up five days of debate, including a marathon 21-hour stint that left Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Mark O. Hatfield (R-Ore.) croaking with laryngitis, the Republican-dominated chamber voted 82 to 14 for the Philippine money and then 82 to 13 for the overall bill.

A Slumping Economy

The Philippine money would be added to more than $500 million in military and economic aid already earmarked for the troubled former American territory in this fiscal year, which began Wednesday. The Senate rejected amendments Monday and Thursday that would have approved the extra funds for the government of President Corazon Aquino, which is trying to revive a slumping economy and ward off a communist insurgency.

But the opposition to the additional grant diminished after Democratic and Republican leaders agreed on a revised formula to take the money in small amounts from a wide variety of foreign aid grants, rather than virtually wiping out a few nations’ allotments.

Backers of the additional Philippine aid said its approval would send a strong signal of support to Aquino and help bolster her hold on power. The House rushed through its own $200-million aid package after Aquino described her nation’s problems in an eloquent speech before Congress last month.

Despite approval of the overall spending bill, final congressional action hinges on negotiations next week to reconcile the Senate bill with a competing $562-billion House version that contains controversial arms control initiatives.

President Reagan contends that approval of the curbs could weaken his hand in next weekend’s summit in Iceland with Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev and has threatened to veto the spending measure if the arms restrictions are not removed. Though eager to finish business and get lawmakers home to campaign for reelection, House leaders have indicated that they might seek to delay adjournment past the summit rather than succumb to Reagan’s demands.

Stopgap Bill to Expire

Government operations currently are subsisting on a stopgap funding bill that expires next Wednesday. Lawmakers will either have to settle differences between themselves and the White House on the permanent spending package by then or pass another short-term spending bill to avert a government shutdown.

The Philippine aid question was only one of dozens of issues that prolonged final action on the bill, which traditionally is a magnet for special interest provisions because lawmakers know it eventually must become law.

Lashed to the bill was a $1.5-billion appropriation to pay for the Senate version of a widely publicized anti-drug program. Other add-ons that were approved called for the construction of certain highways, the transformation of a Tacoma, Wash., train station into a federal courthouse and the reimbursement of a $200,000 Civil War-era ransom that the city of Frederick, Md., paid a Confederate general to persuade him not to raid the local stockade of arms and provisions.

Other Proposals Rejected

But many other proposals were rejected, including a controversial move by abortion foes to strip family planning agencies of their tax-exempt status and an attempt to block $385 million in payments to fund operations of the United Nations until the secretary general of the world body has purged its payroll of alleged Soviet spies.

As it waded through amendments, the Senate at one point remained in session for 21 straight hours before recessing at 5:30 a.m. Friday. Hatfield, who as committee chairman was floor manager for the spending bill, was so hoarse by the time the chamber resumed deliberations four hours later that he was forced to rely on Louisiana Sen. J. Bennett Johnston, a Democrat, to do his talking for him.

Though they initially turned down the Philippine aid proposal, senators had been full of praise for Aquino’s efforts to stabilize the nation since the ouster of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

At the same time, however, many Republicans expressed concern about the future of strategic U.S. military bases north of Manila and resisted stripping foreign aid grants from other countries. Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (R-Kan.), who had said he feared the money would be taken from grants designated for Latin American allies, praised the compromise formula.

“We made it crystal clear that for many of us . . . the aid we provide to Central America, where the people are struggling to build democracy and where a Moscow-inspired insurgency is trying to tear it down, is of just as high priority as the aid we provide the Philippines,” he said.