U.S. Acted to Halt Return by Marcos : State Dept. Says It Had Evidence He Planned Trip

The United States intervened to block Ferdinand E. Marcos from returning to the Philippines after receiving “credible evidence” that he was planning to fly back to his homeland amid an uprising in the nation he ruled for 20 years, U.S. officials said Thursday.

Carl Taylor, a State Department official stationed in Hawaii, visited the former president Wednesday evening to check reports of his impending departure.

“We confronted him directly with credible evidence that he appeared to be intending to return to the Philippines, contrary to the expressed wishes of President (Corazon) Aquino and contrary to previous assurances that he would let us know when he departs the United States,” a U.S. official said of the visit with Marcos.

Informal Agreement

State Department officials have reminded Marcos of an informal agreement, which bars his return, “a number of times” since the former Philippine strongman began his exile in Hawaii, Administration officials said, expressing annoyance.

Marcos denied that he had any immediate plans to return to his homeland, the official said.

But Tomas Gomez, the Philippine consul general in Honolulu, said in a telephone interview that a chartered Boeing 707 jet was waiting in Honolulu “with the intention of flying Marcos to the Philippines.”

In Washington, government officials offered two theories about Marcos’ intentions:

--He indeed planned to return to his nation, in the midst of what turned out to be a failed rebellion by loyalist military officers trying to destabilize the Aquino government, which took office when Marcos fled last February. The uprising ended Thursday with the surrender of 160 mutinous soldiers and civilians who had held a Manila television station.

--He may have been trying to “stir things up in Manila” to maintain his credibility with the government opposition there by making it appear that he was about to return--while having no plans to actually make the trip.

‘Risk My Life’

On Wednesday, Marcos told reporters in Hawaii: “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. I was planning to leave any time--tonight, tomorrow evening, tomorrow daytime.”

And, he complained, “I feel like I am being treated like a prisoner.”

Whatever his intentions, U.S. officials cited curious activities involving the Marcos family in recent days. For example, Imelda Marcos, the former president’s wife, led a $2,000 shopping expedition to a military surplus store in Waikiki, buying up its stock of camouflage military trousers, combat boots and olive-drab T-shirts, according to wire service reports.

Bodyguards at the Marcos residence were later seen wearing camouflage outfits, rather than the civilian clothing they had previously worn.

‘Designer Fatigues?’

“Can she get her money back since they didn’t go?” White House spokesman Larry Speakes joked. In a reference to Imelda Marcos’ well-publicized extravagant shopping habits, he asked, “Were they designer fatigues?”

In describing the encounter between Marcos and Taylor, who is assigned as a political adviser to the military commander in chief in the Pacific, Speakes said:

“When Mr. Marcos and his party came to the United States, it was with the understanding that he could come and go as he pleased, with one exception, and that was if he wished to return to the Philippines, he could do so only by prior agreement with the Philippine government.

“He reviewed his agreements, and Mr. Marcos decided not to return,” Speakes said.

Such visits by U.S. officials have not been uncommon. “We’ve had several conversations” in which officials have “leaned” on Marcos and reminded him that he was a guest in the United States, a senior Administration official said.

‘You Can’t Go’

“Last night,” he added, “we leaned pretty hard.”

By this account, Marcos was told: “You shouldn’t go. And, if you try to take off, you can’t go.”

Another official, recounting the former president’s response, said that “I’m told he was tremendously annoyed when we told him he couldn’t go back.”

The State Department’s version contradicted claims by top officials of the Aquino government that it was they who “foiled” Marcos’ bid to come home. The claims, voiced by Aquino’s press secretary Thursday morning, appeared to be an attempt by the government to cast Aquino as a decisive leader at a time when her political strength is in question.

Marcos’ behavior has clearly irked American officials charged with maintaining relations with the Aquino government.

“He’s not a fool,” one such official said. The purchases by Imelda Marcos and the chartering of the airplane, he said, “clearly indicated that he was up to something, giving the appearance that he was trying to cause trouble. He wanted us to lean on him. He wanted to destabilize the situation in the Philippines.”

Such activities, by this account, are aimed at causing difficulties for Aquino as a plebiscite on a new constitution approaches and as a cease-fire with Communist rebels is due to expire Feb. 7.

No Formal Accord

“I happen to think that Ferdinand Marcos is smarter than to believe he could just walk off the plane” upon landing in Manila, the official said.

Although there was a clear understanding of Marcos’ status, U.S. officials indicated that there was no formal agreement blocking him from returning to the Philippines.

By law, however, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has authority to prevent an alien from leaving the United States “for the purpose of organizing, directing or participating in any rebellion, insurrection or violent uprising against a foreign country.”

Gomez, the Philippines consul in Honolulu, said that he had been “working with a lot of information” in the previous 72 hours.

“I first received a tip from a confidential source in San Francisco and knew that I was onto something,” he said. “I soon discovered that the situation was beyond my own power to control it, so I blew the whistle on Marcos’ plans. I telephoned my embassy in Washington to request that they seek assistance from the State Department.”

Plane From Miami

Gomez said he had been told that the airplane believed to have been chartered to return Marcos to the Philippines was owned by Pan Aviation and that it arrived at Honolulu International Airport from Miami after making intermediate stops in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

He said the airplane left Honolulu, without Marcos, at 5:15 a.m. local time Thursday.

The Associated Press reported that Pan Aviation is owned by Lebanese arms dealer Sarkis G. Soghanalian. In an interview with the Honolulu Advertiser, Soghanalian denied that the plane was to fly Marcos to the Philippines. “I don’t know him, and I don’t have anything to do with the man,” Soghanalian was quoted as saying.

Times staff writer Robert L. Jackson contributed to this story.