Aquino Accepting Idea That Marcos Might Come Home

President Corazon Aquino has accepted the idea that Ferdinand E. Marcos, the man she helped drive from power two years ago, might eventually return to the Philippines from exile in Hawaii, her spokesman said on Friday.

“She has accepted that,” Teodoro Benigno said when asked by reporters if Aquino saw Marcos’s return as inevitable.

Solicitor General Francisco Chavez has said Marcos could be brought back to face criminal charges expected to be filed by the end of the year.

Aquino had earlier ruled out his return, saying that Marcos could come back only if he turned over the billions of dollars he allegedly stole from the country.

Swiss Court Ruling

Benigno said Aquino changed her mind a few months ago after Swiss courts said they could only help return money that Marcos allegedly stashed away in secret bank accounts if Philippine courts brought criminal charges against him.

Aquino, in a meeting Friday with government officials and congressmen, discussed how to protect the “national interest” while observing Marcos’s right to face trial in person, the spokesman said.

“They are looking for that delicate equilibrium,” he said.