Philippine Party’s Marcos Ties Not ‘Kiss of Death,’ Leaders Tell Rally

The political party of ousted President Ferdinand E. Marcos presented its candidates Sunday for the May 11 congressional election and insisted that their association with the disgraced leader is not a “kiss of death.”

Candidates of the Kilusan Bagong Lipunan (Movement for a Free Society), or KBL, were introduced to about 3,000 supporters at a six-hour rally in downtown Manila.

“They say that the Hawaiian connection is a kiss of death,” said Senate candidate Leonardo Perez, who served as Marcos’ political affairs minister. “I believe it is not. It is like the kiss of the French darling that will convert the crowd into a beautiful princess.”

Marcos and his wife, Imelda, fled the country Feb. 25, 1986, after a civilian-backed military uprising swept Corazon Aquino to power. The Marcoses have been living in Hawaii ever since.

President Aquino, meanwhile, campaigned for her handpicked Senate candidates, telling thousands of supporters that she is personally “at stake” in the May election.

Addressing about 5,000 supporters in Lubao, 35 miles north of Manila, Aquino urged the crowd to elect her candidates to help her administration push through her programs.

Enrile Slate

Opposition candidates led by ousted Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile presented their candidates Saturday, unveiling a legislative program that pledged to make the Philippines “a new Japan” by the year 2000.

In the election, Filipinos will vote for 24 senators and 200 members of a House of Representatives, restoring a U.S.-style legislature for the first time since Marcos imposed martial law in 1972.