Weather, Slow Count Dampen Opposing L.A. Filipino Rallies

Unexpected rain and the agonizing slowness of definitive election results from their homeland dampened opposing demonstrations by members of the Los Angeles area’s 200,000-member Filipino community Friday evening.

Turnouts were less than 50 at both a meeting of President Ferdinand E. Marcos’ supporters in City of Commerce and a gathering of challenger Corazon Aquino’s backers near downtown Los Angeles.

As for a demonstration outside the Philippines consulate by leftists who simply decried the entire election, there were scarcely enough protesters to attract the attention of bystanders.

Chained Ballot Box

The pro-Aquino meeting, sponsored by a coalition of political groups including the U.S.-based Ninoy Aquino Movement and the Movement for a Free Philippines, was in the Filipino Christian Church at 301 N. Union St., where a ballot box reposed in chains on a table.

Despite that symbol of conviction that the election was being stolen from their candidate, at least some seemed to take heart from reports by the National Movement for Free Elections that Aquino was leading Marcos--at least in city areas.

“I’m very happy,” said Andrea Aquino Luna, a Southern California resident and the niece of Benigno (Ninoy) S. Aquino Jr., Corazon Aquino’s husband who was assassinated in August, 1983, when he returned to the Philippines from self-imposed exile in the United States. “I am exalted that the Philippine people have now spoken. . . . “

But after a television report that Aquino had already declared herself the victor, Lilia A. Cajilog said grimly, “I’m so afraid they’re going to kill her. . . . If Marcos wins, there is going to be a lot of bloodshed.”

Only about 25 Marcos supporters showed up at the Hyatt Hotel in the City of Commerce for what had been expected to be a festive gathering in anticipation of a big victory for the incumbent.

Hastily Arranged

Dr. Fred Quevedo, a Los Angeles physician who is chairman of the sponsoring Confederation of Philippine-U.S. Organizations, explained that the event was put together hastily Friday morning.

“We who support Marcos feel we need to stand up and speak on behalf of the president,” Quevedo said. “We love our country. When someone defames the president’s position and character, it speaks against us.”

The rain put a quick end to a small leftist demonstration outside the Philippine consulate in the 3400 block of Wilshire Boulevard, where only about a half dozen people showed up in late afternoon with banners and posters bearing such slogans as “Reject Philippine Sham Elections,” “Dismantle the U.S.-Marcos Dictatorship” and “Protest the Farce.”

The protest was organized by Solidarity with the Nationalist Alliance, which had been rejecting the election as a sham and which supports elements of the left in the Philippines.