U.S. Says It Blocked Marcos From Returning to Manila : ‘He Decided Not to Go’--Speakes

Ousted Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos canceled plans to return to his homeland after a U.S. official told him that it would violate the terms of his stay in the United States, the White House said today.

“We reviewed our agreements with him, and he decided not to go,” spokesman Larry Speakes said.

Philippine officials told reporters in Manila that the former president’s return, by private jet, had been timed to coincide with a military revolt that collapsed today with the surrender of 250 mutinous soldiers and civilians holding a Manila television station.

Speakes said that when Marcos was given U.S. political asylum in February, 1986, “it was with the understanding that he could come and go as he pleased with one exception--that was, if he wished to return to the Philippines, he could do so only by prior agreement with the Philippine government.”

State Department spokesman Charles E. Redman added that Marcos had undertaken to inform Washington if he wanted to leave the country and had not done so Wednesday.

Ousted Last Year

Marcos, his wife, Imelda, and a large entourage were flown to Hawaii aboard a U.S. Air Force plane last year after he was ousted from power in Manila by a nonviolent military coup.

Speakes said Philippine government officials informed the United States on Wednesday that Marcos was apparently planning to return to his country and that they objected to his doing so.

“Last night, we had a State Department representative in Hawaii call on Mr. Marcos to review our agreements with him. Mr. Marcos subsequently decided not to return to the Philippines,” Speakes said.

Redman said Manila on Wednesday night “asked us to do everything we could to prevent” Marcos’ return.

“We investigated and we were persuaded that a plane had, in fact, been chartered by Mr. Marcos’ supporters and there was a high probability he would use it to return to the Philippines.

‘Would Not Return’

“We reminded Marcos of his undertakings in previous discussions that he would not return to the Philippines (without Manila’s approval) or indeed leave the United States without informing us,” Redman said.

He said the owner of the plane met Marcos at his Honolulu house shortly after it landed.

The Boeing 707 was owned by Pan Aviation of Miami, a company controlled by Sarkis Soghanalian, to whom Redman was apparently referring.

Neither Speakes nor Redman would say specifically whether Marcos would have been prevented physically from leaving had he not canceled his plans.

But Redman said Marcos “spared himself an embarrassing situation by not going through with it.”

‘Designer Fatigues?’

Speakes joked about reports that Imelda Marcos bought $2,000 worth of military clothing in preparation for her husband’s aborted return.

“Were they designer fatigues?” Speakes quipped at his morning news briefing. “Can she get her money back since they didn’t go?”

In Honolulu, Marcos acknowledged that he had planned to return to his troubled homeland but was barred from leaving by U.S. officials who he complained are treating him “like a prisoner.”

“The present plan is I will do everything I can, even at the risk of my life, to return to the Philippines as soon as possible,” Marcos said late Wednesday. “I was planning to leave anytime, tonight, tomorrow evening, tomorrow daytime.”