WIFE OF MARCOS IS CALLED SUSPECT IN ASSASSINATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140027-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 13, 2012
• Sequence Number: 27
• Publication Date: September 22, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140027-0
ARTICLE APPEARED
ON PAGE _ t WASFIINGTON POST
22 September 1983
Wife of Marcos
Is Called Suspect
In Assassination
While world attention has been
focused on the downing of Flight 007
and the fighting in Lebanon, some-
one has been getting away with mm-
der in the Philippines.
Secret intelligence reports suggeA
cautiously .-that the assassi 6 of
Filipino dissident Benigno Agwiaoiin
Manila last :month might have bran
ordered by First Lady Imelda Mar-
cos, without her husband's knowl-
edge.
Here's the background:
According to the intelligence re-
ports, President Ferdinand Marcos
has a serious kidney ailment that
could cause him to relinquish the
dictatorial power he has held for
nearly 20 years. Aware of this,
Aquino felt the time had come for
him- to leave his sanctuary in the
United States and return to the
Philippines.
It's no secret that Marcos would
like to see his wife succeed him.
Though he used to deny this, point-
ing out that she wasn't even a mem-
ber of the Cabinet Executive Com-
mittee, he appointed her to that
committee last year.
Marcos also sponsored the rise of
her closest military ally, Gen. Fabian
Ver, who is now chief of staff of the
Philippines armed forces, with
250,000 troops under his command.
Ver also directs the Philippines in-
telligence services and presidential
security.
Aquino made no secret of his hope
to, forestall a transfer of power to
Imelda and the establishment of a
Marcos dynasty. His return to the
Philippines, therefore, was the great-
est threat to Imelda's ambitions.
Sources with access to intelligence
reports from the' Philippines believe
that -Imelda and Ver may have ar-
ranged Aquino's assassination to
eliminate their most charismatic ri-
val. One responsible administration
source discussed this possibility at
length with my associate Dale Van
Atta, who has also seen highly sen-
sitive CIA and Defense Intelligence
Agency reports on the subject.
As the man in charge of presiden-
tial security, Ver had been keeping
track of Aquino throughout his exile
in the United States. Ver , and
Imelda also stacked the Philippine
Embassy in Washington, as a secret
DIA report explained:
"The new [military] attache team
was selected by-Benjamin Romual-
dez, ambassador-designate and
brother of First Lady Imelda Mar-
cos, and confirmed by Armed Forces
Chief of Staff Gen. Fabian Ver."
The DIA report continues: "The
new team is-also expected to monitor
Philippine dissident activity in the
U.S. The attaches will undoubtedly u
report on, and - possibly operate'!
against, anti-Marcos Philippine ag-.
tivists in the U.S."
Their top target in this country
was Aquino. The intelligence reporba
view Imelda Marcos' meetings with-'
Aquino with some cynicism, partic-
ularly her warning to him last MAy
that he might be-assassinated if he
returned to the Philippines.
"Mrs. Marcos can be exxpected'to'"become one of many candidates `tii''
succeed her husband, and her nia=
neuvering will add greatly to the pd-f-'
litical turmoil and -instability that
will follow his departure," a CIA prd=
file noted, adding that "in the polio.'
ical.confusion, she might succeed."'
Imelda's biggest hurdle, the CIA" :
figures, is the Philippine military` -'
brass, whose loyalty to her husband
is personal and does not extend ?io
her. That, presumably, is where Vet
comes in.
Imelda, whom the CIA calls "the-
steel butterfly," has-chosen her ml!-..
itary allies well. Commanders 't ` '
most military units in the Manila"
area-crucial to any seizure of pow-
er--are, like Ver, ?natives of Iloce?
Norte province in northwesteitl ~*
Luzon. This is also Marcos' home
turf.
The CIA's conclusion: "In a reel
power struggle .... Ver and his pio
teges," along with Imelda, may well
win.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/04/13: CIA-RDP90-00965R000100140027-0