News In Brief
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Marcos says he doubts US will push Filipino reform
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos says the US would not pressure him to make reforms in his country, Newsweek reported Sunday. ''I think your leaders are wiser than that,'' Mr. Marcos said. ''I don't think they would dare to do that. I think they know how I would react. I would tell the whole world about it.''
When asked if elections to be held in May would be conducted honestly, Marcos replied: ''Our elections have always been honest. Probably as honest as in (Chicago Mayor Richard) Daley's Cook County.''
He denied he was grooming his wife, Imelda, as his party's leader. ''She has influence because she is better looking than I. What can I do?'' he said in the interview. Asked what role his wife would have after the National Assembly elections in May and after he left office, Marcos replied: ''The role of a housewife.''
''Leave the poor girl alone,'' he told the interviewers. ''She is just sick and tired of the way the media and everybody else have worked on her.''
Of the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino last year, Marcos said: ''The manner in which Aquino was killed was certainly shameless and is something for which all Filipinos should be ashamed. I am ashamed, and the one who did it did not do us any favor at all.''
