World Notes THE PHILIPPINES

The 6 a.m. phone call roused Philippine Vice President Salvador Laurel from his sleep. It was a sobbing Imelda Marcos on the line with an urgent appeal from the hospital bedside of her husband, exiled former President Ferdinand Marcos. "The doctor told him he hasn't much time to live," she said to Laurel, pleading for permission for Marcos to return home so that he can die in his native land. After flying to Honolulu, where the Marcoses have lived since fleeing Manila in 1986, Laurel visited the ailing ex-President and agreed that he appeared to be hovering near death.

But President Corazon Aquino, who has steadfastly refused to allow Marcos back into the country, did not budge. Despite Laurel's bleak assessment of Marcos, who is ailing with congestive heart failure, pneumonia and bronchial asthma, Aquino said, "I don't think he's dying." Aquino may have nothing to fear if Marcos returns home, but some believe Imelda might use the occasion to rally opposition to Aquino's rule. "Let's not kid ourselves for a moment," wrote columnist Maximo Soliven in the pro-Aquino Philippine Star. "She's raring for a comeback."