The Philippines Friendly Advice

Senator Paul Laxalt of Nevada, chairman of the Republican National Committee and a close friend of President Reagan's, was being uncharacteristically taciturn. Laxalt had been dispatched by Reagan to Manila for four days of personal chats with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. What did they talk about? "I'm sorry, I can't comment," he told reporters as he left Manila. Was he satisfied with the talks? "Quite." Did he accomplish his mission? "I hope so."

Laxalt's reluctance to elaborate reflected the delicate nature of that mission. The Administration is known to be deeply concerned about the future of the Marcos regime, the corruption-ridden Philippine economy and the security of strategic U.S. facilities at Subic Bay and Clark Air Base. Morever, Marcos, 68, faces growing domestic unrest. A guerrilla insurgency is gathering strength in the countryside, threatening not only the current government but also U.S. military installations. Though Laxalt no doubt raised all those questions in his visit, Marcos later said "there were no definite proposals" from the U.S., and that he gave the Senator "all the facts about" the Philippine situation.

Marcos has come under especially sharp criticism at home and abroad for the government's conduct of the investigation into the 1983 assassination of Opposition Leader Benigno ("Ninoy") Aquino, particularly the role of General Fabian C. Ver, the armed forces Chief of Staff and a longtime Marcos associate. Ver and 25 other defendants are charged with complicity in Aquino's murder. As their eight-month trial entered its final stages last week, Ver submitted a 141-page memorandum asking for acquittal. The court must return a verdict within 90 days. Though Ver has been suspended from his post since October 1984, Marcos has said that he will reinstate him if he is cleared.

Ver was indicted on the basis of misleading statements he had made before the Agrava panel, a fact-finding commission appointed by Marcos after Aquino's death. After ten months of investigations, the panel recommended that the defendants, all military men except for one civilian, be tried for conspiracy to kill Aquino. Ver's original Agrava-panel testimony was thrown out last August after the Supreme Court upheld an earlier decision that Ver's right not to incriminate himself had been violated.

A group of citizens, including lawyers who assisted the Agrava panel, plans to ask the Supreme Court to declare a mistrial. The group cites, for instance, the alleged role of one of the judges in orchestrating the cross-examination of a key prosecution witness who had testified that she saw Aquino being shot by a soldier standing behind him as he stepped off the plane. The defendants maintain that Aquino was shot instead by a lone Communist gunman named Rolando Galman, who was killed by security guards immediately afterward.

Other critics have questioned whether the government prosecutors, under the direction of Ombudsman Bernardo Fernandez, tried hard enough to build a case. Fernandez has been sharply criticized for not asking the Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to disallow Ver's testimony, since the general's own words were not only the basis for his indictment but constituted the strongest evidence against him. The prosecution has also failed to follow up important leads. Among them: six sealed affidavits from U.S. military personnel alleging that Philippine air force officers had sent two F-5 jet fighters in an unsuccessful effort to intercept the China Airlines flight carrying Aquino to Manila. The attempt indicates that other military men may have known of the plot to kill Aquino, lending weight to charges that Ver engaged in a cover-up.

Against that background of suspicion and recrimination, Marcos was evidently not eager to hear one more lecture from the U.S. ANOTHER MEDDLER FROM U.S. ARRIVES, headlined the progovernment Metro Manila Times. Said Adrian Cristobal, Marcos' spokesman: "I don't know if Laxalt himself meddled, but the way the U.S. media had played up his visit, it's kind of meddling." Marcos, who last week saw his wife Imelda off on a visit to the U.S., said that he and Laxalt were in agreement "that the Philippines will have to take care of its national interests." The Times was more direct. Its headline the day of Laxalt's departure: GOOD RIDDANCE?