Supreme Court in Manila Refuses to Allow Return of Marcos’ Body : Philippines: It is feared that the arrival of the dictator’s remains from Hawaii could destabilize the Manila government.

The Philippine Supreme Court refused Friday to allow Ferdinand E. Marcos’ body or members of his immediate family to return to the Philippines, ending a brief but bitter legal battle to bury the former president at home.

Upholding a ban imposed by President Corazon Aquino, the court rejected by a vote of 8 to 7 a petition filed by Marcos supporters on Oct. 2 asking that the dictator’s remains be returned from Honolulu, where he died in exile on Sept. 28 at the age of 72. The body was interred Oct. 15 in a temporary tomb.

A majority of the justices accepted Aquino’s argument that allowing the body to be returned could destabilize her government. They said Marcos’ widow, Imelda, reinforced the threat when she was widely quoted as saying her husband remained the legitimate president and that Aquino was “illegal.”

“The threats to the government, to which the return of the Marcoses has been viewed to provide a catalytic effect, have not (been) shown to have ceased,” the court ruled.

Military officials had said that the Marcoses or their allies were plotting either to assassinate Aquino or to spend $1 million to destabilize her government. But no proof was ever publicly offered.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice Abraham Sarmiento said the military had shown no firm evidence of destabilizing plots. He said the alleged threat posed by a return of Marcos’ remains is in “the realm of conjecture, speculation and imagination.”

The solicitor general, Frank Chavez, said the Marcos forces could not appeal further. “It’s the last step in their journey as far as the courts are concerned,” he said. “It won’t stop their paid lackeys here from agitating.”

Marcos loyalists were largely unsuccessful in drawing crowds to rallies after their leader died. Several hundred people began a protest march to Manila on Tuesday from Marcos’ home province of Ilocos Norte, about 250 miles north of the capital, but most of the marchers reportedly dropped out.

Marcos supporters and Aquino foes immediately denounced the court’s decision. Vice President Salvador Laurel, who is now one of Aquino’s chief opponents, called the decision “unfortunate.”

“The issue should have been laid to rest with the burial of the former president’s remains in his hometown,” Laurel told reporters. “We could have moved forward faster and addressed other, more serious national problems.”

Rolando Abadilla, Marcos’ former chief of military intelligence, agreed, saying: “Again, the Aquino government missed an opportunity to start a genuine program of reconciliation. I don’t think another opportunity as good as this one will come their way again.”

Aquino’s supporters, however, said the ruling would help quell recurrent rumors of coups that have surfaced as Aquino prepares for a state visit to the United States and Canada. She will meet President Bush on Nov. 8.

In a statement from Malacanang Palace, Aquino said she was pleased that the court had agreed that “even the return of Marcos’ remains could adversely affect national security and interest.”

The court’s ruling backed a similar 8-7 ruling on Sept. 15 that barred Marcos from returning while alive. He lived in Hawaii after being deposed in 1986.

EX-REBEL REMINISCES--Commander Dante recalls his days as an insurgent. A18