Marcos Body Awaits Philippine Burial

HONOLULU - The body of Ferdinand Marcos lies in an air-conditioned shed high up on a cool, steep mountainside, primed for an imminent return to the Philippines.

The casket, reported to contain his favorite pajamas and golfing hat, was not buried after the deposed Philippine leader died in exile here in 1989 because supporters hoped to lay him to rest in his homeland.

That time is drawing near. Philippine President Corazon Aquino's chief aide, Executive Secretary Franklin Drilon, said last week that Marcos' remains will be allowed back before Aquino's term ends next June.

"Marcos has a human right, a divine right and a legal right to be buried at home," said Joe Lazo, a longtime family friend whose group, Friends of Marcos, provided round-the-clock volunteer guards for the crypt.

The tin and stucco-walled shed containing the refrigerated, above-ground crypt is nestled in the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park near Honolulu with a panoramic view of the valley's lush growth and ocean inlets.

Philippine authorities had refused to allow the body's return, fearing extremists would exploit the funeral to undermine the Aquino government, Drilon said.

Marcos was ousted in 1986 in a popular uprising that ushered Aquino to power.

Since his death, there have been no reported intrusions at the crypt site. A cool breeze rustles tropical trees that shade the shed's peaked roof, and a portable air conditioner hums steadily.

Green indoor-outdoor carpet muffles footsteps across the porch of the shed. Inside glass doors, the black-and-bronze coffin sits inside a plywood berth under the Seal of the President of the Philippines.

The guards are equipped with two wrought-iron benches and a television set sheltered by a blue plastic tarpaulin.

One guard, who said he came to Hawaii on Marcos' domestic staff, thinks the body would be better off here. "People here in Hawaii are very good, not like the other place - if they go there, I think there's trouble," Ben Ortalez said.

Imelda Marcos is expected to return to Hawaii from New York next month for celebrations marking the second anniversary of her husband's death on Sept. 28, 1989, and what would have been his 74th birthday, Sept. 11. "We got word that over the weekend they changed the garment of the body to a barong - the Philippine national costume," Philippine Consul General Pedro Chan said last week.

At a similar ceremony last year, Imelda Marcos led a chorus of 250 singing "Happy Birthday" to the corpse.

She hopes the body can go home for burial no later than Oct. 1, when the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration ban on transporting the body by plane expires, said her attorney, James Linn.