Crusade in Manila

THE PHILIPPINES

Every incoming President of the Philippines has taken office with a vow to clean up the corruption that plagues the nation, and the country's new leader is no exception. In fact, Ferdinand Marcos' main campaign plank was a promise to weed out crooked officials and halt the illicit traffic in whisky, cigarettes and luxury goods that cheats the national treasury of an annual $125 million in import duties. It is a huge task, but Marcos has got off to an impressively early start.

Since taking over only a month ago, he has sent paratroops jumping into the island of Semirara, 180 miles south of Manila in the Tablas Strait, and marines wading ashore at the village of Capipisa on Luzon's south coast in strikes against isolated lairs where outlaws for years have operated with impunity. He has ordered the navy to use its recoilless-rifle-equipped hydrofoils to chase down, --or shoot up--smugglers' boats. He has also reshuffled the constabulary for greater effectiveness, appointed a new customs chief, called for stiffer penalties for smugglers and suspended the director of prisons after learning that about 50 prisoners had recently walked out of Philippine prisons on forged presidential pardons.

Last week Marcos announced that the police and armed forces have so far seized nearly $1,000,000 in contraband. Indicative of the crackdown, the price of a pack of smuggled U.S.-made "Blue Seal" cigarettes in Manila has climbed in the past month from the normal 500 to 650, suggesting a distinct and abrupt shortage.

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