Aquino Leads Marcos in Early Balloting

MANILA, Philippines--Opposition candidate Corazon Aquino jumped narrowly ahead of President Ferdinand E. Marcos in the government's own vote tabulations today, and an aide said she was making plans to call on Marcos "to arrange an orderly transfer of power."

Mrs. Aquino, who earlier angered Marcos loyalists by issuing a statement claiming victory in yesterday's elections, was reported to hold an edge of 10,297 votes in the 600,000 counted by the Commission on Elections, the official vote-tallying body appointed by Marcos.

The Pacific Ocean archipelago has 26 million voters in 90,000 precincts. Final figures were not expected for days.

The bitter, emotional, two-month campaign culminated in a bloody, controversial balloting. At least 30 people were reported killed, most of them by gunfire. There were reports of intimidation, vote buying, ballotbox switching and other irregularities.

Marcos had predicted he would win 63 percent of the vote, and would be disappointed if his margin of victory was less than three million.

The co-leader of a U.S. delegation of election observers accused Marcos of holding back vote results from Manila, where Mrs. Aquino is strongest, in order to "shape the returns."

"My own political judgement is that the government concluded the results from Manila would not be good," said Sen. Richard Lugar (D-Ind.). By suppressing them, Lugar said, "the government is trying to determine, in what was a fairly close election, what is going to be required" for a Marcos victory.

Joe Concepcion, chairman of the National Citizens' Movement for a Free Election, or NAMFREL, whose unofficial count also showed Mrs. Aquino leading, said there was "no doubt in mymind that the government is trying to make sure it has the margin to win the election. That is very clear."

NAMFREL said at 6 a.m. today, 15 hours after voting ended, that Mrs. Aquino had 1,929,004 votes votes and Marcos 1,378,135.

Media Poll Count '86, organized by pro-Marcos newspapers, had the president leading by 2,947,190 votes to 2,428,756 this morning. A count by pro-Marcos broadcasters put the president in front by 862,649 to 749,907.

Mrs. Aquino, in a statement released 10 hours after polls closed at 3 p.m. yesterday (2 a.m. EST), said, "The trend is clear and irreversible. The people and I have won and we know it."

"The Marcos spell is broken," she said. "The myth of his invincible machine has been shattered. Against his guns, against his goons and against his gold, the Filipino people have prevailed."

Marcos, interviewed on Cable News Network, said a media poll showed him ahead of Mrs. Aquino, 13 million votes to 11 million. However, none of three tabulations purportedly showing Marcos ahead reported anywhere near that number of votes counted.

The supervisor of the government's official tally, Dr. Pedro Baraoidan, said in a telephone interview, "I am not in a position to know where he [Marcos] got his figures."

Nicanor Yniguez, speaker of the national assembly, told a television interviewer that the assembly would begin an official canvass of the votes on Monday.

"It seems to me everybody is canvassing votes when only the Batasan Pambansa is authorized by the constitution," Yniguez said.

Mrs. Aquino, 53, has called the 68-year-old president an evil dictator and blamed him for the 1983 assassination of her husband Benigno, who was Marcos' chief political rival.

Marcos says she would lead nation toward communism.

Rene Saguisag, a lawyer Aquino spokesman, said the election was "the dirtiest we have ever had."

Lt. Gen. Fidel V. Ramos, the deputy military commander who was charged with overseeing a peaceful election, called it "the most peaceful election in recent memory," and added: "The true winner in this election is democracy."

Cardinal Jaime L. Sin, archbishop of Manila and spiritual leader of the predominant Roman Catholic community, said, "Whatever may have happened today, and what will still happen, don't be afraid, don't be discouraged, keep calm, do not be provoked to violence."

Shots were fired at American photographers who said they were taking pictures of masked men stuffing ballot boxes in Concepcion, Benigno Aquino's hometown.

Jaime Opinion, an election commission member, told reporters: "We will not hesitate to stop NAMFREL's quick count to prevent them from misleading the people into believing that one candidate has won."