Salvador ("Doy") Laurel, 56, discussed Philippine election prospects with TIME editors in New York City last week. Excerpts:
ON MARCOS' ANNOUNCEMENT. We favor a snap election. But the elections must be free and fair. That's all we want.
ON THE OPPOSITION'S DEMANDS. We want a revamping of the commission on elections. Of the seven members, only one is independent-minded. The remaining six are 1,000% blindly loyal to Mr. Marcos. We would also like to make sure that the military is neutral in this election.
We would like access to the media. We don't have a free press the way you know...