Exiled president Marcos’ message to us from Hawaii was written on official Malacanang stationery under the letterhead, "Office of the President."

The paranoid in me bristled this way: "What? Is he still claiming to be our President? Is he thinking of setting up a government-in-exile? Will he direct a contra force from Honolulu?"

But the Pollyanna in me responded, "No, despite the wealth he brought out and the wealth he has already stashed away, the waste of perfectly good stationery offends his frugal Ilocano soul."

Carlos Alfaro