MARCOS REASSURES LAXALT ON REBELS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660007-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: October 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660007-7
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE NEW YORK TIMES
v 17 October 1985
MARCOS REASSURES
LAXALT ON REBELS
Tells Senator the Communist
Campaign Is Under Control
- Gets Reagan Note
i By SETH MYDANS
Special to Tke New York Times
MANILA, Oct. 16- President Ferdi-
nand E. Marcos met for an hour today
with Senator Paul Laxalt, a personal
envoy from President Reagan, and as-
sured him that the Philippines had its
growing Communist insurgency under
control, a palace spokesman said.
The spokesman, Adrian Cristobal,
said Senator Laxalt, a conservative Re-
publican from Nevada, brought a note
from the president asking Mr. Marcos
for a frank assessment of his Govern-
ment's stability.
He denied that the note contained a
warning about his country's future, as
some sources in Washington had said.
Senator Laxalt declined to talk to re-
porters after the meeting, and the
American Embassy offered no com-
ment except to confirm that the meet-
ing had taken place.
Mr. Cristobal, who said he talked
with Mr. Marcos after the meeting in
Malacanang Palace, said he did not
have details of what Mr. Laxalt told the
Philippine President.
'Consider the Record'
He was carrying a note asking that
the president have a frank, candid, in-
timate dialogue with Senator Laxalt,"
Mr. Cristobal said. "So the President
spoke candidly with him. The Presi-
dent told senator Laxalt to consider the
record."
Mr. Cristobal added, "We were not
overrun by two previous insurgencies,
and we will not be overrun by this ate."
He referred to the defeat in the 1950's
of the Moscow-oriented Huk rebellion
and of the Moslem Moro National Lib-
eration Front in the 1970's.
The Philippine Government ac-
knowledges that the Communist New
People's Army has been growing and
estimates its strength now at 12,000
fighters. But Mr. Marcos has said Gov-
ernment forces have turned the tide
against the rebels.
U.S. Less Optimistic
The assessments of the United States
State Department and intelligence
agencies however are less optimistic.
They warn that the Rrowina insurgency
poses an increasing threat to national
stabi i .
The American Ambassador, Stephen
W. Bosworth, said last week that the
Communist rebellion "is widespread,
better organized and even more com-
mitted than previous insurgencies."
Mr. Cristobal said he believed that
Mr. Laxalt's visit had grown out of a
distorted picture in Washington of the
Philippine situation. He said Mr. Rea-
gan "has not been getting the whole
picture of what is going on." Mr. Mar-
cos, he said, "knows what is going on
better than all those kibitzers."
Administration sources in Washing-
ton said Monday that Senator Laxalt
was carrying a message from Mr. Rea-
gan to "express his concern" about the
growing insurgency and the wide-
spread corruption and economic do-
cline that are feeding it.
Manila Seems Embarrassed
Officially, the State Department and
the embassy here have said only that
Senator Laxalt, as a close friend of Mr.
Reagan, would meet with Mr. Marcos,
while in Manila. The Senator was due 1
to leave Thursday. The publiciy ' at-
tending the visit has appeared to em-
barrass the Philippine Government,
which has not given it the public promi-
nence it usually accords to official
American contacts.
The presidential press office issued
no statement about the visit, and
spokesmen denied that a meeting with
the American visitor was on Mr. Mar-
cos's schedule today.
Mr. Cristobal, who acts as a spokes-
man for the President, is not connected
with his press office. The Government-
controlled television stations have not
mentioned the visit, and only three of
the six major newspapers mentioned it
today.
One of these, The Metro Manila
Times, published an article this morn-
ing with the headline, "Another Med-
dler From U.S. Arrives." But the text
of this and the other articles simply
quoted reports of the visit that have
been published in the United States.
An embassy spokesman, Allan Crog-
han, said Senator Laxalt had no plans
to meet with members of the political
opposition, as American officials often
do when they come to assess the situa-
tion. Mr. Croghan said the Senator
came solely as Mr. Reagan's envoy to
the Philippine President.
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/02/27: CIA-RDP90-00965R000504660007-7