World Notes THE PHILIPPINES

Give Ferdinand Marcos credit for trying. The deposed President of the Philippines has attempted everything from flattery to pleas for sympathy to plotting a coup d'etat. But Marcos' successor, Corazon Aquino, has blocked all his maneuvers to return home. So Marcos, 70, is trying a new tactic. According to intermediaries, he has offered to turn over $5 billion, enough to pay nearly 20% of the country's foreign debt, if Aquino will change her mind. Although she reportedly rejected the proposed deal, Aquino at one point challenged Marcos: "Send the $5 billion, and then we will talk."

Since Marcos was ousted in 1986, Aquino's government has tried to recover the $10 billion that it claims Marcos stole from the country. From his Hawaiian exile, Marcos acknowledged that he tried to strike a deal; but of the $5 billion overture, he snapped, "That is a lie." Said Aquino's press secretary, Teodoro Benigno: "One of the world's greatest illusionists is at work."