Shultz Lauds Aquino at Start of Philippine Visit

Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived in the Philippines on Saturday in a new demonstration of U.S. support for President Corazon Aquino’s economic policies and her government’s renewed military effort to quell a Communist insurgency.

Wearing a blue-and-white flower lei, Shultz told welcomers at the Manila airport that the United States “draws inspiration from the vitality of Filipino democracy.” He said the recent congressional election here was “the freest and fairest election in modern Philippine history.”

Earlier, talking to reporters during the 7,575-mile flight to Manila from Iceland, where he had attended a meeting of foreign ministers of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Shultz praised Aquino’s strategy of trying to end the rebellion by negotiation before ordering the army to take the offensive.

Former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, now Aquino’s most outspoken political rival, has criticized the president’s strategy as timid and ineffective. But Shultz said that Aquino needed to buy time to rebuild the country’s army, which was demoralized after the long rule of deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos.

‘Sensible Approach’

He said that by negotiating with the rebels and offering them amnesty, Aquino helped to develop a national consensus behind a firmer approach, once “the enticement aspect of it ran out its string.”

“To me, that was a rather sensible approach, and those who are criticizing her for not barreling in right off the bat really didn’t take a very hard look at what the capability of the military--or lack of capability--was at the time,” Shultz said.

Shultz conceded that Aquino’s government had to modernize and professionalize its army without receiving as much U.S. military aid as “they had a right to expect.”

The Administration’s request for $100 million in military assistance for the current fiscal year was cut in half by Congress, although the lawmakers voted $355 million in economic and food aid, one of the highest levels outside of the Middle East.

Shultz will be unable to promise much in new assistance during this trip. The Administration requested $156 million in economic and $110 million in military aid for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. And officials traveling with Shultz conceded that Congress almost certainly will cut that figure.

Economic Policies Praised

The trip was Shultz’s third to Manila since Aquino came to power last year. Like the two previous trips, this visit is intended to underline U.S. support for the president.

Shultz also lavished praise on Aquino’s economic policies.

“In the first quarter of this year, their economic growth in real terms is around 5.5%,” Shultz said. “Their inflation remains at a very low level. Their foreign exchange position is pretty good. They have rescheduled their debt.

“There are lots of things still to do, but it’s a success story,” he said.

Most of Shultz’s meetings with Filipino leaders will take place Tuesday. He planned to play golf and rest from his grueling flight from Iceland today, and he is scheduled to visit the World War II battlefield of Corregidor on Monday.

Shultz is scheduled to go to Singapore on Tuesday for the start of the annual foreign ministers meeting of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations. Although the United States is not a member of ASEAN, Washington works closely with the six nations, especially on economic matters. All of them have free-market economies.