World Notes Philippines

Coming from a seasoned campaigner with a reputation for masterly verbal pyrotechnics, the words seemed slightly absurd. "God is with us!" President Ferdinand Marcos declared before a crowd of 50,000 in Davao on the southern island of Mindanao. "God knows that to protect the Filipino people, (we) must win!"

With only days to go before this week's presidential election, Marcos did not sound like an indomitable incumbent. Miffed at press reports casting doubt on his wartime record and personal finances, he angrily denounced those "now ! engaged in rumor-mongering and black propaganda." He suggested that the reports emanated from the "dirty tricks department" of Challenger Corazon Aquino's "desperate campaign." Late in the week, Marcos announced that the military had uncovered a plot to assassinate him while he was on a campaign trip to Iloilo City.

Asked by reporters what had been his biggest mistake during the campaign, Marcos quipped, "Some say it was to hold this special election." Aquino, meanwhile, had a cool response for Marcos' heated rhetoric: "I think he is panicking."