Marcos sets foot in presidential palace

Marcos sets foot in presidential palace

MANILA (DPA): Thirteen years after her husband was ousted in a four-day popular revolt, former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos set foot again in the Malacanang presidential palace on Sunday to receive a "mother of the year" award.

The flamboyant 69-year-old widow of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was accompanied by her three children when she was honored for being a model mother in an annual ceremony marking Mother's Day in the Philippines.

The ceremony was held at the Kalayaan (Freedom) Hall, where the former president, his family and a top security aide made their last public appearance before being chased into exile to Hawaii in February 1986. She was one of 28 Mother of the Year awardees.

When asked if she wanted to live again in Malacanang, the woman known worldwide for her 3,000 pairs of shoes and her extravagant lifestyle said, "Malacanang was never a lure for me. This is the most uncomfortable place to live in."