Lucky Sevens

By George Russell

To President Ferdinand E. Marcos, seven is a lucky number. Members of the 200-seat National Assembly were well aware of that last week as they witnessed the introduction of Cabinet Bill No. 7, the enabling legislation for snap presidential elections that the Filipino leader announced earlier this month. The bill proposed an unusual length for the campaign: 57 days. In place of the Jan. 17 election date that Marcos had initially suggested for the balloting, Bill No. 7 proposed another one: Feb. 7. Admitted the President's Political Affairs Minister, Leonardo Perez: "We are superstitious."

The move showed Marcos at his wiliest. The new election date allowed the President to claim magnanimity for allowing opposition parties more time to prepare for the contest. It was flexibility he could well afford: last week Marcos' civilian opponents appeared to be more deeply divided than ever. Only days after leading Opposition Figures Corazon ("Cory") Aquino and Salvador ("Doy") Laurel made a public display of their solidarity against Marcos, it seemed they were about to split over the issue of who should run against the President.

Mrs. Aquino, 52, widow of martyred Opposition Leader Benigno ("Ninoy") Aquino, has long been considered the candidate most capable of uniting all elements of the splintered democratic resistance to Marcos. Until recently, she had insisted she would not run. In late October, however, the soft-spoken leader said she might step forward if her supporters collected 1 million signatures backing her candidacy. Now speculation is rife in Manila that the deeply religious Mrs. Aquino may be on the verge of opposing Marcos on the election ballot.

Aquino's shifting position seemed to disconcert Laurel, whose United Nationalist Democratic Organization holds 37 of the 59 opposition seats in the National Assembly. The former senator declared himself a presidential candidate last June. Some form of Aquino-Laurel ticket has long been considered a strong combination, but Laurel, who turned 57 last week, has frequently, if somewhat unconvincingly, said he would step aside should another figure be chosen.

Apparently stung by what he considered favoritism shown to Aquino among opposition leaders, Laurel abruptly demanded the resignation of Cecilia Munoz Palma, 73, head of the twelve-party organization known as the National Unification Committee, a body charged with hammering out the opposition ticket. Fumed Laurel: "You have shown partiality. You are a dictator. Why don't you resign now?" Munoz Palma complied, declaring, "I can now really speak my mind on who can lead the Filipino people." The two later made up, but by then a seven-party coalition had formed to press for Aquino's candidacy.

With the opposition in disarray, Marcos continued to maneuver. Among other things, the President last week announced that he had created a panel of military men to reorganize the armed forces. The move was regarded in part as an effort to allay U.S. restiveness over the reinstatement of General Fabian Ver, 65, a longtime Marcos crony, as military chief of staff. Ver is one of 26 men on trial for complicity in the 1983 Aquino assassination. Last week the Philippines Supreme Court temporarily forbade a special corruption tribunal to issue a verdict in the case. One military dissident dismissed Marcos' latest effort as "all smoke and mirrors and distraction." Maybe so, but that--and luck--still seem to be working in Marcos' favor. --By George Russell. Reported by Sandra Burton and Nelly Sindayen/Manila

With reporting by Reported by Sandra Burton, Nelly Sindayen/Manila