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MANIA IN MANILA If you think presidential campaigns are strung out in the U.S., you ought to visit the Philippines--these islands are spread so far and wide across the Pacific that in certain remote locales people are still waiting for WWII to end. Widespread semi-literacy only complicates matters. Information is so thoroughly manipulated by the power elite that the probability of a fair election is small. There are two sides to the presidential election scheduled for February 7. The strings of both are being pulled predominantly by supporters of the status quo and Ferdinand Marcos. Marcos himself called for elections not six weeks ago in response to an annual wave of discontent. His tactic of allowing insufficient time for opponents to gather momentum has paid off handsomely the last four or five times. Is there any reason to suspect he would fail to be reelected? Perhaps. Marcos himself is now charging that his opponent, Corazon Aquino, is playing dirty politics. We gained access to a "victory scenario" from Marcos' camp and, in the spirit of free elections (meaning voters don't have to buy their ballots), have excerpted it for you, below: VICTORY SCENARIO "...play the injured party by casting dispersions at Aquino's tactics while attempting to better them..." "...keep on hand approximately 16 million 'absentee' ballots just in case..." "...organize extravagant parties for international election observers..." "...follow the advice of those guys you brought in from Chicago..." "...announce new reform policies and publicize them heavily two or three days prior to the election..." "...tell everyone you're thinking of retiring anyway in a couple of years..." "...should a loss seem incontrovertible, play for time by impounding all ballots, imprisoning election officials and engaging in 'transition talks' with the other side..."