June 26, 1983

ON the night of Dec. 15, after residents of Windham and Willimantic voted to merge their two governments, bottles of champagne were uncorked as the forces that had worked for consolidation celebrated the end of a long battle. But as it turned out, Dec. 15 was only the midpoint. The fight to eliminate the two governments so far has resulted only in changing the forms of the two governments. Democrats and Republicans have witnessed infighting in the last six months as they moved toward consolidation. And the efforts to pass a budget for the new government have been unsuccessful so far. On Friday, the new government is supposed to be in place, functioning smoothly. But some of the people who fought hard for consolidation say the smooth part may be a decade off.

Jay Howell could not bear to watch. When Rich Gossage relieved him in the eighth inning today, he went directly into the clubhouse and took a shower even though his first victory of the season was on the line. However, by the time the game reached the ninth inning, Howell forced himself to watch the final outs on television and saw the Yankees complete a 4-1 victory over Boston. A satisfied Howell had an elusive first victory and the Yankees had their 900th career victory over the Red Sox. This marked the first time one American League team had beaten another 900 times.

Secretary of State George P. Shultz arrived in the Philippines on the first stop of a four-nation Asian trip today and reaffirmed United States support for President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Mr. Shultz, speaking in a luncheon toast, called the relationship between the United States and the Philippines ''very special.'' In his toast, Mr. Shultz praised Mr. Marcos for his management of the Government, particularly the imposition on Friday of austerity measures to help the Philippines cope with a serious balance-ofpayments shortfall. The Philippine Government announced it was devaluing the peso by 7 percent. The nation's payments deficit reached $1.14 billion last year and totaled $343 million in the first quarter of 1983.

A senior Defense Department official says that shoddy work by military contractors is adding even more to the cost of military equipment and weapons than an estimate of excesses cited earlier this month. The officer, Rear Adm. Frank C. Collins Jr., said in an interview that the previous estimate of 10 to 30 percent added costs was ''conservative.'' That estimate had been made by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Thayer.

WASHINGTON IF the landmark Supreme Court decision overturning the so-called legislative veto had come 15 years ago, the reaction probably would have been mild and predictable. Liberals would have applauded the Court for safeguarding the powers of the Presidency and conservatives would have regretfully observed a little more erosion of the authority of Congress. As it was, last week's 7-to-2 ruling created an uproar, leaving liberals and conservatives divided and uncertain about which branch would ultimately benefit from the nullification of the Congressional practice of overriding Presidential acts. That is because in recent years Congress had built a constitutionally dubious superstructure that, while helping balance the powers in areas where balance was deemed necessary, encouraged bad government practices in others. Like a tornado dropping out of a Kansas sky, the Court demolished the structure, leaving more than 200 laws in both foreign and domestic affairs in doubt. The White House and Congress must now find new ways of dealing with one another.