The War of the Widows

The phone at the presidential house on Arlegui Street began ringing at 5 a.m. despite a long-standing order that the resident not be awakened except in the event of another coup attempt. For Corazon Aquino, the news that Imelda Marcos had just been acquitted of fraud and racketeering charges in a New York court must have been nearly as distressing. The President's office reacted by tersely reaffirming Aquino's decision "not to allow the return of Mrs. Marcos at the present time." But across the Pacific, a vindicated Marcos told reporters, "I think I should be able to come home now" and expressed her determination to bury her husband on Philippine soil. Said she: "That is my only obsession."

But few doubt that the stage has been set for a war of the widows, an icy clash of politics and personalities that has already galvanized the nation by pitting the country's most powerful women against each other. "Everybody is shivering with excitement," says Teodoro Benigno, who served as Aquino's press secretary until 1989. "It's the Cory mystique against the Imelda mystique."

The enmity between the two runs long and deep. The President still holds the Marcoses responsible for the murder of her husband Benigno (Ninoy) Aquino, who was gunned down at the Manila airport in 1983. Marcos is said to look upon Aquino as an insolent upstart who stole Malacanang Palace from her and the late Ferdinand. "Although they are poles apart when it comes to morality," observes Benigno, "Cory and Imelda are twins when it comes to grit, determination and obstinacy."

The main bone of contention is whether Aquino will be able to keep her nemesis out of the country now that she has been cleared by a U.S. court. While most of her family's treasure trove of funds -- allegedly looted from the nation -- remains frozen pending the outcome of four civil suits in the U.S., Marcos nonetheless remains relatively free to wield influence. Were Marcos to come home, Aquino fears she would use her fortune and following to mount a political challenge to the democratic government, perhaps even run for President. That, say observers, may be just what it takes to persuade Aquino to run for a second term.