Recast Marcos’ Bust as Aquino’s, Paper Says

MANILA — A Manila newspaper Sunday endorsed a suggestion that a four-story cement bust of deposed President Ferdinand E. Marcos be changed to that of his assassinated rival, Benigno S. Aquino Jr.

Commenting on local Muslim sculptor Abdulmari A. Imao’s proposal to recast the hilltop bust on a golf course in Pogo town, 120 miles northwest of Manila, into an Aquino monument, the Manila Times said in an editorial:

“The change will have historical significance by symbolizing the transition from dictatorship to people’s power. It will also be the only monument in the world where a political personality obliterates another.”

Aquino, a former senator, was assassinated in 1983 on his return from exile in America. His widow, Corazon Aquino, became president after Marcos was deposed Feb. 25 by a military revolt backed by popular demonstrations.