Massive protest promised if Reagan visits Manila

By Compiled From Wire Service Dispatches With Analysis From Monitor Correspondents Around The World; Edited By Linda Feldmann

September 30, 1983

Manila

Anti-government protesters will mob US military bases in the Philippines if President Reagan goes through with his scheduled visit to Manila in November, opposition leader Salvador Laurel said Thursday.

''If Reagan comes, he will be endorsing (President Ferdinand) Marcos,'' said Mr. Laurel, a former senator. ''If Reagan comes, there will be 1 million people at the airport. He will need a helicopter to get out.''

Plainclothes security forces, meanwhile, raided and padlocked an outspoken opposition weekly newspaper, the Philippine Times, on a charge of inciting sedition.