We, the People , The Manila Times

I share former Congressman Raul Daza’s concern that the Marcos family will try to regain power in the Philippines. My concern is heightened by the Marcos' decision to settle in Hawaii whose Ilocano population is large enough to constitute a formidable political force in that state.

As a one-time Honolulu resident, I know how vulnerable the Hawaii state government would be to a gradual take-over by the Marcoses. Once the Marcoses become politically powerful in Hawaii, they can use the state as a "privileged sanctuary" from which they could plot a triumphant return to our country.

So small are the legislative districts in the Aloha state that seats have been won or lost on the basis of a couple of dozen votes. A few extra thousand dollars spent to support Ilocano candidates in each district could make the difference. Mr. Marcos could well emerge as one of the kingmakers in Hawaiian politics.

Worse, Hawaii's state constitution is reviewed every ten years. This means that Mr. Marcos can start by influencing the next Constitutional Convention to change the rules of Hawaii politics in such a way as to make it easier for him and his cohorts to gain power.

I shudder at the thought of the Marcos family running the Hawaii state government, controlling Hawaii's two senators and congressmen in Washington, and supporting this political machinery (and their own lavish life style) out of Hawaii's tourist dollars and the military spending that comes out of Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force Base.

My only hope is that Governor George Ariyoshi, the state’s political parties, and Washington even now recognize the danger the Marcos presence poses in Hawaii -- the only state in which martial law was ever declared since the Civil War.
 

DONALD VILLABLANCA