U.S. to Press Marcos to Pay for $39,000 in PX Charges

WASHINGTON —  The White House said today that U.S. officials are “working out arrangements” for ousted Philippines President Ferdinand E. Marcos and his party to repay the U.S. Air Force for $39,000 in credit purchases they ran up at base exchanges in Guam and Honolulu.

Earlier, a Pentagon source said in revealing the figures that it wasn’t clear who would pick up the tab. And a State Department official said Thursday the bills were to be forwarded to the U.S. Treasury in Washington for collection.

But White House spokesman Larry Speakes said today that the charges were due largely to the circumstances in which the Marcos party left the Philippines last week, whisked from the presidential mansion by U.S. helicopters.

“They did not have U.S. dollars to spend,” Speakes said, and many in the party had no clothes other than what they were wearing when they left.

“So they were allowed to go into the PX, and we’re working out the arrangements for payment,” the spokesman told reporters.

There have been reports that an Air Force cargo plane that followed Marcos to Hawaii brought crates full of cash and valuables worth millions of dollars, including $1 million in freshly printed Philippine pesos.

“I think we weren’t aware of the peso count until we counted it,” Speakes said, without confirming the precise amount of money U.S. Customs found aboard the plane.

Sen. William S. Cohen (R-Me.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: “We offered Marcos safe haven and not hog heaven. I don’t think anybody anticipated Marcos would be using and possibly abusing these privileges.”