ARMY ONCE BARRED FILES ON MARCOS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830091-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 24, 2012
• Sequence Number: 91
• Publication Date: January 23, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

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Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830091-1
ARTICLE AP W
ON PAGE
23 January 1986
ARMY ONCE BARRED
FILES ON MARCOS
A Filipino Opposition Figure
Sought Papers in '84 but
Request Was Denied
By STEPHEN ENGELBERG
Special to The New York Times
WASHINGTON, Jan. 22 - More than
two years ago, the United States Army
barred an opponent of Ferdinand E.
Marcos from looking at files of the
guerrilla unit said-to have been headed
by Mr. Marcos in World War II, ac-
cording to Federal officials.
The. officials said the request for the
material, made by Dr. Arturo M. Taca,
was denied on the ground.that it would
violate the Philippine President's right
to privacy under American law. The of-
ficials also said the Army, which had
legal custody over the records, ex-
pressed fears that release of the docu-
ments could strain relations with the
Philippines, a strategic ally.
The war record of Mr. Marcos has
long been a subject of. dispute. A suc-
cession of journalists and Filipino op-
position leaders have gone to St. Louis
in recent years in search of evidence at
the National Personnel Records Cen-
ter. The records center housed many of
the Government's documents on Mr.
Marcos before they were moved to the
National Archives in 1984.
Seeking to Refute Marcos.
Dr. Taca, a Filipino doctor from St.
Louis who opposes Mr. Marcos, went to
the records center in October 1983,
shortly after the assassination of the
opposition leader Benigno S. Acquino
Jr. He said he was hoping to find
records that would prove Mr. Marcos's
assertions that he was a war hero and a
guerrilla leader were fraudulent.
Dr. Taca said he specifically asked
for the Army's. investigatory files on
the Marcos unit, Ang Mga Maharlika.
Paul D. Gray, the assistant director
for military records at the St. Louis
center, said the files were found and
recognized as sensitive.
"It sent up flags," said Mr. Gray,
who recalled that his office immedi-
ately. asked for guidance from its
Washington office and the Army.
Shortly afterward, Mr. Gray said,
the Army asked that the documents be
withheld, citing several reasons.
The Army said - and the records
center agreed - that the Federal Pri-
vacy Act should be applied to a foreign
national like Mr. Marcos. The law
limits disclosure of possibly deroga-
tory information from Federal files
without permission of the individual.
Mr. Gray said the Army was also
concerned about the possible impact on
American relations with Manila.
"There was some concern for the
political sensitivity," Mr. Gray said.
"We're not ignorant people. We know
certain names and situations. We deal
with it every day here."
'Sounds Very Reasonable'
The archivist of the Army, John H.
Hatcher, said he could not recall de-
tails about the case. But he confirmed
Mr. Gray's account, saying: "That
sounds very reasonable. The Army
decision was predicated on sensitivity
to the Government in Manila."
According to Mr. Hatcher, the Phi-
lippine Government had already been
consulted about the transfer of the
records to the archives and had ob-
jected to any release of the rosters of
guerrilla groups.
Opposition figures like Dr. Taca con-
tend that Mr. Marcos's guerrillas, if
they existed at all, were far smaller
than the more than 8,000 he has
claimed at various times.
Mr. Hatcher said a sample of the ros-
ters had been passed on by Army intel-
ligence to its Philippine counterparts.
"The Government of the Philippines
demurred," he said, "We respected
their wishes. This is not unusual."
Mr. Hatcher defended the Army's
application of the Federal privacy
rules to the files on the Maharlika guer-
rillas. He termed the archives' release
of it a "bureaucratic blunder" because
more care should have been taken to
protect the rights of Mr. Marcos.
But Garry Ryan, head of the Military,
Archives Division at the National Ar-
chives, said each release of material to
the public represented a judgment by
an archivist on the privacy statute.
Further, he said, the records on the
Maharlikas involved an investigation
of claims by the unit, not individuals.
He also noted that the entire file was
declassified by the Army in 1960.
The documents were finally released
when a historian, Alfred M. McCoy, un-
covered them while researching a book
on the Philippines. He said he received
the material from a staff archivist who
set no restrictions on its use.
"The archivist who made that deci-
sion made an honest decision and that's
as far as it goes," he said. "It's a tough
decision to make, and he made it."
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/01/24: CIA-RDP90-00965R000201830091-1