World Notes THE PHILIPPINES

Three weeks after Josefa Edralin Marcos died at age 95, her body is still under glass in a bronze coffin at a funeral home in a well-to-do Manila suburb. White lilies sent by her absent son from exile in Hawaii are fading. Blocking her burial is a contest of wills between President Corazon Aquino and supporters of the deposed Ferdinand Marcos.

Citing national security, Aquino has refused to allow the man she replaced more than two years ago to re-enter the country for his mother's funeral. The President has permitted Marcos' three children to return, however. Last week, when some 7,000 Marcos supporters began hurling rocks and bottles near the U.S. embassy, police used truncheons and tear gas to disperse them. Marcos' sister, Fortuna Barba, remains hopeful. "((Aquino)) might still change her mind," she said. "The angel of the Lord touches her heart."