Imelda Marcos Calls Court Visit ‘Harrowing’

HONOLULU — Former Philippine First Lady Imelda Marcos returned Monday night from a weeklong trip to New York, tearfully calling her court appearance on federal racketeering charges the “most harrowing and inhuman experience of my life.”

She had traveled to New York to plead innocent to the charges. She and her husband, 71-year-old Ferdinand, are accused of plundering $103 million from the Philippine treasury, funneling it to foreign bank accounts and using it to buy prime New York City real estate and art.

She arrived aboard a jet owned by tobacco heiress Doris Duke, a longtime friend who also put up $5-million bail for Mrs. Marcos.

Choking back tears, she told about a dozen supporters and reporters, “I now pray . . . (the U.S. government) will honor the territorial integrity of the Republic of the Philippines, a Third World country, respect our constitution and our laws and above all, give every human being our right to our dignity.”

Sobbing, she said “God bless America. God Bless the Philippines,” and got into a black limousine for the 15-minute ride to the Marcoses’ hillside estate overlooking Honolulu.