U.S. SAYS STAYING ON IS 'FUTILE' AND OFFERS TO BE 'OF ASSISTANCE'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560089-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 23, 2010
• Sequence Number: 89
• Publication Date: February 25, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560089-9
ON PACE
NEW YORK 'MMES
25 February 1986
U.S. Says Staying On Is `Futile'
And Offers to Be `of Assistance'
By BERNARD WEINRAUI
la" M Tin IIu Ye! TtmM
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24-The White
House called today for Ferdinand E.
Marcos to aally offered a United States plans to
take the PhIlIpplns President to salt
haven in the United States.
As Administration officials . met
through the day in a crisis atmosphere,
the Whits House said it would be 4%.
tile" for Mr. Marcos to prolong Wfd
through fonrce,
"A solution to this criNs only be
achieved theTxtp~ a p4iceln {andtlayd
to a new gpinj!!:~ ours spokesman; r ~jPeakee sail
H
In a statement shortly after a Wepbona
call at 5 A.M. between Mr. Reagan and
his ranking advisers.
Ready to Be elAssistaneV
Congressional leaders at both parties
and key Reagan tIon ofd-
dals made it clew the day that
a consensus was that Mr.
Marcos faced little but to leave
the Philippines after90years in power.
Mr. Speaker said the United States
would be "of assistance" to Mr. Mar-
co should he seek asylum.
Offldals said the early-morning
White House statement came after re-
ports that troops loyal to Mr. Marcos
had started to attack crowds outside a
military amp controlled by two dissi-
dent Government officials, former De-
Sine Minister Juan Ponce Enrile and
Lieut. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, the former
Deputy Chief of Staff.
Hoping for Quick Departure
white Huse officials said the threat
that violenw could spread in the Philip-
pines as a result of the attack outside
the military camp led Mr. Reagan and
his advisers to reject Mr. Marcos pub-
licly in the hope, that the Philippine
leader would quickly depart and avert
nationwide bloodshed.
Late today, * state Department
strengthened a prwiou s advisory an
travel by the P llipptn.s,
warning that of 6'uzii Ind'
against traveling there. The advfscry
also noted that some commercial
flights to the Philippines had been can.
celed and that the airport in Manila
was open only an an intermittent basis.
In an advisory issued Friday, the
State Department urged Americans to
postpone nonessential travel to the
Philippines. It said that if if travel to
the Philippines was essential, Amer-
icans should make contact with thel
United States Embassy upon arrival.
According to some officials, the pre-
dawn White House decision to call for
Mr. Marcos to step down was painful
for Mr. Reagan because he considers
Mr. Marcos a loyal United States ally.
At the White House, a ranking offi-
cial said late today that the United
States was seeking "to get Marcos to do
the inevitable" and leave the Philip- ~
pines. "That's the goal," the official
said, adding, "We assume it would bed
impossible for him to govern because
obviously the next step would be civil
war."
White House officials said the United
States had not formally asked Mr. Mar-
cos to step aside, but a series of United
States statements, public as well as
private, bluntly signaled the intention
of the Reagan Administration to put
pressure on the Philippine President to
leave. Mr. Reagan has not spoken to
Mr. Marcos in recent days, officials
said, but United States diplomats have
done so.
"We certainly recognize him as an
old friend and a longtime ally of the
United States," Mr. Speakes said, "and
our judgment is that a peaceful transi-
tion is the only solution to this crisis."
As to whether a United States mili-
tary plane would be put at Mr. Mar-
cos's disposal, Mr. Speakes said that
"certainly we have adequate capacity"
at Clark Air Base in the Philippines to
handle Mr. Marcos's departure.
'Do Anything Possible'
Mr. Speakes, who was the sole Ad-
ministration spokesman on the Philip-
pines, said Mr. Reagan "would cer- ,
tainly do anything possible to help him
achieve a peaceful resolution of the
situation."
"There has been no request for asy-
lum, and no offer of asylum nor no offer
of any safe haven on military bases in
the Philippines," Mr. Speaker said.
"But we have expressed our willing-
ness to be of assistance to an old friend
and ally should he make a decision in
any fashion."
Asked this afternoon whether the
United States wanted Mr. Marcos to
cancel his inauguration, scheduled for
Tuesday, Mr. Speaker replied: "I don't
think it's for us to say. We would cer-
tainly like a peaceful transition. Given
the situation, if it could be worked out it
would be better to do quicker than
later."
The White House spokesman said
that, as far as the Administration un-
derstood, the scheduled Marcos inau-
guration was "a private affair, and no
foreign governments have been invited
to send representatives, so there will be
none from the United States or any
other countries, I Presume."
According to White House officials,
Mr. Reagan was awakened at 5 A.M.
this morning for a telephone call with
his national security adviser, Vice
Adm. John M. Poindexter, and Donald
T. Regan, the White House chief of
staff.
At that meeting. after Intelligence re-
Mr. Mum- It Im NGW
statement that called on the hilin
The White House statement said in
part: "President Marco has pledged
to refrain from initiating vidlsnce and
we appeal to him and those loyal to him
and all other Filipino people to continue
to do so.
"Attempts to prolong the life of the
present regime by violence are futile.
A solution to this crisis can only be
achieved through a peaceful transition
to a new government."
The White House made an usual ef-
fort to publicize the statement, with
Mr. Speakes making himself available
for television and radio interviews in
time for the morning news Programs.
Officials said it was the White House in-
tention to make the United States posi-
tion known in the Philippines as quickly
as possible.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State
George P. Shultz and Philip C. Habib,
the special Presidential envoy who re-
cently returned from the Philippines,
briefed 27 members of Congress on
Capitol Hill about the Administration's
efforts to resolve the crisis.
One of the legislators attending the
meeting, Senator Richard G. Lugar,
chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, said it was his "own pri-
vate view" that the United States
should offer refuge to Mr. Marcos.
"I don't believe his Government is vi-
able," Mr. Lugar said, "but clearly
there are military forces at his disposal
that could cause bloodshed."
'How It All Unravels'
The Senate majority leader, Bob
Dole of Kansas, urged Mr. Marcos to
step down, but left unclear whether he
thought the Philippine leader should be
granted asylum.
"I think it depends on how it all un-
ravels," Mr. Dole said. "If a lot of peo-
ple are not shot up, I think he'd be fa-
vorably received."
Senator PaMck j. Leahy, Democrat
ermont to eouty chairman of t ne
am"
WAW"
During the day, as snow, fell in Wash-
ington trathundreds Of ors appeared in Laffaayetttte
park, across from the White House.
STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/23: CIA-RDP90-00552R000303560089-9