L.A. Filipinos Cheer at News of Resignation

Like their countrymen half a world away, many Filipino-Americans in Los Angeles rejoiced today at the news that Ferdinand E. Marcos had resigned his presidency during the night and was at a U.S. air base, poised to leave the island nation he had ruled, sometimes harshly, for 20 years.

At a victory rally at the Philippine Consulate in Los Angeles, jubilant supporters of Corazon Aquino cheered as Marcos’ large portrait was removed from the wall of the 12th-floor Wilshire District consulate and a hastily framed campaign photo of Aquino was put up in its place.

As a crowd of about 75 cheered and waved Filipino flags 12 floors below, acting Consul General Leovigildo Anolin, noting that Marcos and Aquino have both appealed for unity, said, “I echo that appeal for reconciliation.”

Rally Becomes Celebration

The midday rally had originally been planned as an anti-Marcos protest, but when word came before dawn today that Marcos had quit, it became a celebration, reflecting the feelings of many of the Southland’s estimated 200,000 Filipinos.