Article: IN A RURAL HAMLET, FARMERS VOICE DISTRUST OF MANILA GOVERNMENT

SAMAL, Philippines - Government euphoria over an apparent outpouring of national support for the Philippines' new constitution was not reflected yesterday in this rural leftist stronghold.

In the dusty courtyard outside one elementary school where votes were cast in San Juan barrio, at the edge of the town of Samal, 35 miles west of Manila, tenant farmers and fishermen talked openly of their support for communist rebels and their distrust of the government in Manila.

"I am voting 'no' because the constitution does not meet the demands of the peasant," said Delfin Lazarte, a tenant rice farmer arriving to vote.

Lazarte said he farms 1.5 hectares of rice land for a landlord who ...

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