700 Filipinos at L.A. Meeting Call for Marcos Return

More than 700 representatives of Filipino-American groups from throughout the United States met in Los Angeles Sunday to call for the return of deposed leader Ferdinand Marcos to the Philippines.

Speakers at the event, the “Congress for the Restoration of Democracy to the Philippines,” said President Corazon Aquino should step down to avoid bloodshed.

“I think she would be better as a housewife,” Carlos P. Manlapaz, a Lynwood dentist, told the group, which met at Patriotic Hall.

“Most of the Filipino people believe there is no evidence to the fact that Mrs. Aquino was elected President,” said Rolando Atiga, a Los Angeles physician, who organized the event. “Marcos is considered the legitimate President. It’s a destabilizing factor to have him out of the country.”

Meanwhile, about 200 Filipino-Americans protested Sunday night outside San Francisco’s St. Francis Hotel, where Philippine Vice President Salvador H. Laurel was speaking.

“Laurel is like Joe McCarthy,” said I.T. Concepcion Jr., a member of Friends of Cory Aquino, who accuse Laurel of trying to undermine Aquino. “He wants to crack down on all who are against him.”

Laurel said the demonstrators would not dissuade him from addressing Filipino-Americans at various Bay Area events.