A 90-YEAR-OLD widow won a 32-year legal battle to reclaim property seized by the state after her then-neighbour, the late former president Ferdinand Marcos, put the Philippines under martial rule.

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered the Malacanang presidential palace to hand back the 4,925 sq m Manila property, which now forms part of the palace compound, to Madam Tarcila Mendoza, who it ruled was the rightful owner.

The widow went to court in July 1975 - nearly three years after Marcos imposed martial law - after his bodyguards forced her off the property. Several government buildings have since been erected on it.

The court also ordered the government to pay the widow about 8 million pesos (S$260,000) in rental fees plus legal fees, court officials said.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE