Marcos Can Go Home; Husband’s Body Can’t : Philippines: Aquino reverses a 5 1/2-year ban on the former First Lady. She will face tax fraud charges.

MANILA —  Imelda Marcos is free to return home to face tax fraud charges, but cannot bring the body of her husband, former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, back for burial, the Philippine government said Wednesday.

President Corazon Aquino’s decision reverses a 5 1/2-year ban on the former First Lady’s return. At a news conference in New York, Imelda Marcos said she received the news with “mixed emotions.”

“I’m glad at the thought of being able to go home, but saddened and pained about the ban on bringing back the remains of my late husband,” she said.

Asked if she would return even if she can’t take back Ferdinand Marcos’ remains, she said: “If it is imperative that I be there to face trial, then I will go. If the lawyers and the courts need me there, I will go.”

Presidential aide Franklin Drilon, who announced the end to the ban, said the tax fraud charges will be filed against Imelda Marcos and her three children by today, with other charges expected later. The Marcoses could face five years imprisonment on each count if convicted.

The charges would be the first filed by the Philippines against the late president’s family. The Marcoses were indicted in 1988 by a U.S. federal grand jury in New York on racketeering charges in connection with the purchase of real estate and other valuables with funds allegedly embezzled from the Philippine treasury.

Marcos was too ill to be arraigned and died before the trial began. Imelda Marcos was acquitted of all charges by a federal jury in New York in July, 1990.

Marcos, ousted in the February, 1986, revolution that propelled Aquino to power, died in exile in Hawaii on Sept. 28, 1989.

Drilon said that in addition to the tax cases, the government will file charges by Oct. 20 in connection with millions of dollars allegedly plundered by the Marcos family and stashed in Swiss banks.

The Swiss Federal Court has ruled that the money cannot be returned to the Philippines unless criminal charges are filed in this country by December.

The Philippine constitution bars trials in absentia, and the government delayed bringing charges for fear the Marcoses would invoke their right to return to face their accusers.

Marcos supporters contended that the ban on the Marcoses was a personal vendetta because Aquino blamed Marcos for the 1983 assassination of her husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr.

Aquino, however, cited security concerns. She has faced at least seven coup attempts, some linked to Marcos or his followers.

The announcement was hailed by both opposition and pro-administration politicians as a step toward national reconciliation.

Rep. Rodolfo Albano, a pro-Marcos lawmaker, said the return of Imelda Marcos would be “a strong factor in unifying the opposition” before national elections next May.

Aquino has ruled out seeking reelection next year, and Imelda Marcos was said by her lawyer to have no intention of running.

Some insiders theorized that the decision to let Imelda Marcos return is a government ploy to confuse the opposition.

Cabinet sources, demanding anonymity, said her presence in the Philippines would sow disarray in an opposition that has yet to decide who among three leading contenders will win the nomination of the Nationalist Party for the 1992 presidential election.

The three--Vice President Salvador Laurel, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and businessman Eduardo Cojuangco--have no love for the widow of Marcos, the president whom all had served loyally at one time, the sources said.

With a vast fortune still believed to be at her disposal, Imelda Marcos could throw a monkey wrench into the plans of other presidential aspirants.

Special correspondent Abby Tan contributed to this article.