World Notes the Philippines

Start packing the shoes -- Imelda Marcos is free to go home. For the past five years, the exiled wife of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos has been barred from her native land by President Corazon Aquino's coup-plagued regime. But last week Manila lifted the ban so it could begin criminal prosecution of Marcos, who under Philippine law must be present at her trial. The aim: to recover $350 million in allegedly ill-gotten wealth now frozen in Swiss bank accounts.

The Swiss federal court ruled in December that the money should be freed in one year unless Marcos is indicted in the Philippines on criminal charges linked to the accounts. A day after announcing that Marcos and her three children could come home, Manila filed 29 charges of tax fraud against the family, including 11 against Imelda.

The government, however, refused to allow the remains of Ferdinand Marcos, who died in Hawaii in 1989, to be returned for burial. Imelda, who lives in New York City, denounced that as "cruel" and said "it will be up to the lawyers" whether she goes home or not.