The Philippines The War of the Widows

By Sandra Burton

Never mind that she departed in ignominy aboard a U.S. Air Force jet. Forget that she is under indictment for looting her country. Imelda Marcos was determined to go home like a hero. And what Imelda wants, Imelda usually gets.

When she finally landed in Manila, however, few could forget the eerily similar event that triggered Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos' fall. Commando teams fanned out around her aircraft as it taxied to the gate, just as they had when opposition leader Benigno Aquino returned from exile eight years earlier. But instead of the fatal gunshots that greeted him, well-wishers surged onto the plane to welcome the former First Lady. Under a plan worked out by the Philippine national police and a coterie of retired Marcos loyalists, Imelda was escorted to a holding room for immigration and customs checks -- then a quick getaway.

But Imelda, being Imelda, refused to abide by the plan to join her motorcade in a safely cleared area behind the terminal. Instead, she insisted on leaving through the arrival lobby in full view of the press and supporters. After two hours of frantic calls to the Malacanang Palace, President Corazon Aquino's executive secretary instructed police to let Imelda have her way.

A trivial victory, but Imelda watchers were already keeping score in what Manila's press has dubbed the "war of the widows." Aquino had conceded the first point by reversing her ban on Marcos' return after a Swiss judge ruled that the former First Lady must be found guilty in a Philippine court before the government could hope to recoup an estimated $350 million in "ill-gotten wealth" from frozen Marcos accounts in Swiss banks. Aquino also agreed to allow interment of the still unburied body of the late President Marcos in his home province. But Imelda insists on a hero's burial in Manila's national cemetery. She returned without the corpse -- but in time to fulfill a six- month residency requirement for prospective presidential candidates.

Whether she chooses to run or not, her return signaled the unofficial start of the 1992 presidential campaign. "My role as First Lady was to bring out what was good and beautiful in the Filipino people," she said, "but I was perceived as Marie Antoinette." Aquino, claimed Imelda, "employs 16 world- known public relations firms to package her." Most analysts do not underestimate Imelda's influence on a citizenry that is disillusioned with the democratic government that displaced the dictatorship.

Still, her status and the electoral environment have changed during the past six years. Unfettered critical media have replaced the "crony press." She is no longer the wife of an all-powerful President, and is possibly a criminal to boot -- as she was reminded last week when she appeared in the Quezon City courthouse to post bail and undergo fingerprinting on tax fraud charges. Some unexpected events could also hurt an Imelda candidacy. The devastating typhoon that struck her native province of Leyte last week has triggered widespread anxiety about the country's dynastic political system among the superstitious masses. People say that the two widows are responsible for all the natural disasters -- and that only when they reconcile will the devastation end.

With reporting by Nelly Sindayen/Manila