In the elaborate main reception hall at Manila's Malacanang Palace, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, 68, looked frail but basically healthy as he greeted 52 U.S. business leaders and Time Inc. journalists traveling through Asia on a Time-sponsored Newstour. Speaking calmly and firmly, Marcos called Western reports that he was near death "really exaggerated." But he made selective use of facts and figures to dismiss the concerns of U.S. analysts, blandly promising an imminent upturn in the Philippine economy and a decline in the strength of Communist insurgents. Marcos took refuge in dubious legal arguments to defend the 1973 constitution, tailored to...
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