Arms and Legs

Tens of thousands of Filipinos wildly cheered and showered confetti on some 2,500 joggers as they arrived in Manila last week. The joggers, led by Agapito Aquino, 45, younger brother of murdered Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino Jr., had set out five days earlier on a 90-mile protest run from Aquino’s birthplace in the town of Concepcion in Tarlac province to the tarmac at Manila International Airport, where Aquino was assassinated last August. They were protesting a referendum called by President Ferdinand Marcos for Jan. 27 to ratify a constitutional amendment on the presidential succession. Along the way, military police intercepted and harassed the joggers, drawing wide attention to the marathon. The protesters were forced to camp outside the Philippines capital for three days. By the time they resumed the run, the referendum was over, but the publicity given their detention prompted an emotional out pouring of support. A throng of 25,000 people turned out for an antigovernment rally. Aquino halted the run for a four-day rest, but vowed that he would carry a lighted torch all the way to the tarmac where his brother died.