Philippine Vice President Urges Aquino to Quit

MANILA — Philippine Vice President Salvador Laurel on Saturday accused President Corazon Aquino’s government of corruption and incompetence and urged her to resign and call new elections.

In a letter to the president, Laurel said conditions in the Philippines have gone “from bad to worse” since Aquino was swept to power in the 1986 civilian-military revolt that ousted President Ferdinand E. Marcos. He said Aquino has failed to curb corruption or stem a 19-year Communist rebellion.

Laurel, who read his letter to reporters at a news conference, said that if Aquino resigns, he will also step down. But he said that if she refuses to quit, he will leave her coalition government while remaining vice president, an elected post.

Aquino refused to comment on Laurel’s resignation call but accused her vice president of withholding support for her during two major coup attempts.

Last September, Laurel, 59, quit as foreign secretary and refused to serve in the Cabinet, citing “fundamental differences” with Aquino.

Since then, the vice president’s political base has eroded steadily. Twenty-one of the 22 members of his party in the House of Representatives are reportedly preparing to defect to pro-Aquino parties.

Laurel’s election call generated little support among political leaders. The next presidential elections are slated for May, 1992.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Filipinos set up barriers, parked buses in streets and blocked roads with market stalls Saturday to prevent opponents of U.S. military bases from rallying near Subic Bay Naval Base.

Police said about 30,000 people, including vendors and bar waitresses, faced off against about 5,000 anti-base protesters on the outskirts of Olongapo, a town about 50 miles west of Manila that is adjacent to the base.

The townspeople, many of whom depend on the naval base for their livelihood, snarled traffic for several hours as they blocked all roads to the base, preventing a 50-vehicle convoy of protesters from entering the town.