Aquino Says Philippine Exiles Fearful of Extradition Treaty

Philippine exiles in the United States fear the effects of a proposed U.S. -Philippine extradition treaty negotiated in November between the two countries, an exiled Philippine leader at Harvard said this week.

Benigno S. Aquino, a fellow at the Center for International Affairs and a former Philippine senator, said the treaty will allow Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to "extend his long dictatorial arm and immobilize anti-Marcos forces in the U.S."

Aquino, under death sentence in the Philippines, spent seven years in jail there for his political opposition to Marcos's martial law regime before being allowed to come in 1980 to the United States for health reasons. He has been at Harvard for the last year and a half.

The extradition treaty, the first between the two countries, will go before the Senate for final approval sometime this spring, Aquino added.

Philippine groups in this country oppose the treaty for two main reasons, Aquino said. "Extradition normally involves criminal offenses, such as income tax evasion, but since Marcos possesses unchecked power over the courts, he can fabricate charges against his political opponents in this country."

Chess

Aquino also criticized the treaty because the State Department, rather than the courts, determines whether an extradition is being sought for political reasons. "Next year the U S will be negotiating for military bases in the Philippines. What will prevent the State Department from trading us for bases? We are pawns on the bargaining table. Our cases will not be decided on merit, but on what is expedient for U.S. foreign policy," he added.

But James Menard, a spokesman for the State Department's East Asia Bureau, said the treaty specifically rules out extradition for political purposes.

The treaty is causing great anxiety among Filipinos in this country, said Herson T. Alvarez, a Philippine opposition leader also in exile, who is a Mason Fellow at the Kennedy School. Marcos wants to extradite only the most prominent of the 1.8 million Filipinos in the U.S., Alvarez said. "If he manages to bring back even just two or three of us, that's all he will need to intimidate opposition in this country."

Although he feels he is in definite danger if the treaty is approved. Alvarez said he is not afraid. "It is my life. I have spent the last 12 years fighting Marcos, and I would rather take the shocks than run away. If he tries to extradite me. I can fall backon the courts, pressand civil libertarians here to help me."

Aquine said, however, he doesnot feel directly affected by the treaty. "My visa expires in June, and unless the U.S. letsme stay another year. I must be out of the country by the time the treaty takes effect," he said.