The World - News from March 6, 1985

Philippine Labor Minister Blas Ople offered to resign from the Cabinet of President Ferdinand E. Marcos, one day after Marcos fired Foreign Minister Arturo Tolentino and rebuked Ople. In a letter, Marcos had demanded an explanation of remarks in which Ople charged that Philippine politics depends upon patronage. In a letter of reply offering to resign, Ople called for a “new discipline” in public administration to respond to “an era of crisis.”