World Notes THE PHILIPPINES

When parliamentary elections last May produced an overwhelming victory for President Corazon Aquino, former Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile denounced the balloting as a fraud. Calling the election the "dirtiest in the nation's history," he vowed not to take his seat in the 24-member Senate even if declared a winner.

Enrile seems to have changed his mind. Last week the Supreme Court ordered the independent Commission on Elections to proclaim him the winner of the contested 24th Senate seat. Some commission members had been criticized for delaying a final decision to keep out Enrile. Declared the victor: "The decision is a triumph of justice and fairness."