6 Months Later, Still No Formal Burial For Marcos’ Mother

Every eight weeks the body of Ferdinand E. Marcos’ mother--who died in May at the age of 95--is removed from its metal casket, injected with formalin and dressed in a new beige gown.

The former Philippine president will allow no one to bury his mother until he returns to the homeland that ousted him nearly three years ago.

But President Corazon Aquino has refused to allow Marcos to return to the Philippines, fearing it could cause political unrest.

Six months have passed since 95-year-old Dona Josefa Marcos died on May 4. Few mourners now come to the funeral parlor to view the embalmed body surrounded by flowers.

Analysts say Marcos saw his mother’s death as his chance to come back from Hawaiian exile. But the protracted wake has become a symbol of his failure.

“Why do they keep the body for so long? Most people don’t believe he’s coming back,” said Father Ruben Abaya, a priest in Ilocos Norte, the northern province where Marcos--whom many here still call “father”--was born.

Once considered a brilliant lawyer who argued his way out of jail through a Supreme Court appeal after being convicted of the murder of his father’s political foe, the 71-year-old Marcos faces criminal proceedings in the United States.

Last month, a U.S. grand jury indicted Marcos and his wife Imelda in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.