Imelda Marcos

Imelda Romualdez Marcos (locally [ɪˈmelda ɾoˈmwɐldɛs ˈmaɾkɔs]; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in September 1972. She is the mother of current president Bongbong Marcos.

During her husband's 21-year rule, Imelda Marcos ordered the construction of many grandiose architectural projects, using public funds and "in impossibly short order" – a propaganda practice, which eventually came to be known as her "edifice complex". She and her husband stole billions of pesos from the Filipino people, amassing a personal fortune estimated to have been worth US$5 billion to US$10 billion by the time they were deposed in 1986; by 2018, about $3.6 billion of this had been recovered by the Philippine government, either through compromise deals or sequestration cases.

Marcos and her family gained notoriety for living a lavish lifestyle during a period of economic crisis and civil unrest in the country. She spent much of her time abroad on state visits, hosting extravagant parties, and indulging in expensive shopping sprees, spending much of the State's money on her personal art, jewelry and shoe collections – amassing 3,000 pairs of shoes. The subject of dozens of court cases around the world, she was eventually convicted of corruption charges in 2018 for her activities during her term as governor of Metro Manila; the case is under appeal. She and her husband hold the Guinness World Record for the "Greatest Robbery of a Government", putting Suharto of neighboring Indonesia at second.

The People Power Revolution in February 1986 unseated the Marcoses and forced the family into exile in Hawaii. In 1991, President Corazon Aquino allowed the Marcos family to return to the Philippines to face various charges after the 1989 death of Ferdinand. Imelda Marcos was elected four times to the House of Representatives of the Philippines, and ran twice for the presidency of the Philippines but failed to garner enough votes.

Imelda Remedios Visitación Romuáldez was born at dawn in San Miguel, Manila, on July 2, 1929. Her parents were Vicente Orestes Romuáldez, a lawyer, and his second wife, María Remedios Trinidad who was born and raised in Baliwag, Bulacan. Imelda is the sixth of Vicente's eleven children, and Remedios' firstborn. Her paternal great-grandfather was Fray Francisco Miguel López Silgado, a Spanish friar and silversmith from Granada, Andalusia, who became the parish priest of Pandacan in Manila.

Born into the Romualdez political dynasty from the province of Leyte, Imelda grew up in a wealthy clan of devout Catholics. She was baptized in the nearby San Miguel Church on the day after her birth.

Notable members of Imelda's family include the clan matriarch Doña Trinidad López de Romuáldez; her uncle Norberto Romualdez, who was a Supreme Court Associate Justice; and her younger brother Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez, who served as Governor of Leyte and later as an ambassador under the regime of Imelda's husband, Ferdinand Marcos.

At the time of her birth, the Romuáldez clan were wealthy, until around 1932 when the fortune of Imelda's family began to decline.

Imelda's parents separated for a time, during which Remedios worked for the nuns at the Asilo de San Vicente de Paul. Vicente and Remedios eventually reconciled but to avoid further conflict, she and her children, including Imelda, moved to their house's garage. In 1937, after Conchita's birth, Remedios' health began to fail and she died on April 7, 1938, due to double pneumonia. In her ten years of marriage, Remedios had six children: Imelda, Benjamín, Alita, Alfredo, Armando, and Conchita.

Imelda finished grade one at the nearby College of the Holy Spirit Manila, where her older half-sisters also studied.

Imelda continued her early studies at Holy Infant Academy, a convent school run by the Order of Saint Benedict. The old wooden structure of the school still stands today four blocks away from the Romualdez house. At school, Imelda had to face her family's humiliating poverty, and she was frequently among the students who had to apologize for late payments.

In 1942, the Romualdezes returned to Tacloban, and around that time, Imelda's father refused to let her go back to school. When the Americans returned in 1944, she was eager to resume her studies at Leyte Progressive High School. She finished her first year at the provincial high school where she was also chosen Miss I-A; then in her second year, she moved to Holy Infant and stayed there until she graduated.

Imelda continued her higher studies at Holy Infant Academy from 1938 to 1948, the year she graduated from high school. As a student, her scholastic record shows that she had a general average of 80 percent throughout her primary and high school.

Imelda ran for President of the student council at St. Paul's College (now named Divine Word University) in 1951, three years before her marriage to Marcos. At that time, she was about to graduate with a degree in Education. She was put up as a candidate for the Department of Education, which had an enrollment of 800 students. Even during the nomination, her victory was already a foregone conclusion, but the school authorities insisted that another candidate be put up to make the elections a democratic procedure. That was how the College of Law, with 200 students, put up Francisco Pedrosa.

While an undergraduate student, Marcos taught at a local Chinese high school before graduating in 1952. She had won a scholarship to study music at the Philippine Women's University under Adoración Reyes, a close friend of the family. She briefly held a job at a music store but left this for a better one at the Central Bank. After a few lessons, Adoración was convinced that Imelda had talent and persuaded her to enroll at the College of Music and Fine Arts at Philippine Women's University (PWU), under a special arrangement that put her on register while Adoración continued to give her free lessons.

Imelda returned to Manila in 1952 under the rule of President Elpidio Quirino and stayed in the house of her relative, House of Representatives of the Philippines Speaker Pro tempore Daniel Romuáldez, who had three adopted children. Imelda's status in the Romuáldez household during this time has been described as "higher than servants and lower than family members as a poor relative". Imelda found work as a salesgirl in a store called P.E. Domingo, which infuriated her father when he learned of it during one of his visits, perceiving it as ill treatment of Imelda.

To calm the indignation of Vicente Romuáldez, Eduardo and Daniel exercised their political and economic influence to find work for Imelda at the Central Bank where she worked under Braulio Hipuna, the Chief Clerk of the Intelligence Division.

During this time her cousin Loreto Ramos introduced her to Adoración Reyes, a teacher from the College of Music and Fine Arts of Philippine Women's University (PWU), who gave her vocal lessons and a chance to get a PWU scholarship. She later sang three songs at a performance with her cousin Loreto at Holy Ghost College (now named College of the Holy Spirit Manila).

Imelda also joined the 1953 Miss Manila beauty pageant. The results became controversial, resulting in both Imelda and Miss Norma Jiménez being declared Manila's candidate to the larger Miss Philippines pageant. Both of them eventually lost to Miss Cristina Galang.

Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos met on April 6, 1954, during a budget hearing at the Philippine Congress. Ferdinand was part of the opposition team who led the argument against the budget, while Imelda was there to visit her cousin Daniel, who was the Speaker of the House. During a recess, Imelda caught Ferdinand's eye, and he asked his journalist friend Jose Guevara of The Manila Times to introduce him to Imelda. At that time, Ferdinand already knew of Imelda. Imelda, on the other hand, knew very little of Ferdinand Marcos. After comparing heights and confirming that he was at least an inch taller than her, Ferdinand sought the help of Guevara to pursue Imelda in marriage. This whirlwind courtship lasted only eleven days.

During Holy Week of that year, Ferdinand visited Imelda's house, and when Imelda claimed that she planned to spend the holidays in Baguio, Ferdinand and Guevara offered her a ride up to Daniel's family mansion where she planned to stay, while the two booked a room in nearby Pines. For the remainder of that Holy Week, Ferdinand showered Imelda with flowers and gifts and visited her daily, prodding her to sign the marriage license that sealed the agreement. On April 16, 1954, Good Friday, after having been jokingly asked by Guevara if she wanted to be "the First Lady of the Land someday", Imelda finally agreed to sign it. On April 17, 1954, Ferdinand and Imelda were secretly married by a reluctant Francisco Chanco, a judge befriended by Ferdinand who lived in the area. The church wedding followed only after receiving the blessing of Vicente Orestes, Imelda's father, which Ferdinand asked via telegram on Easter Sunday. Their wedding was held on May 1, 1954, at the San Miguel Pro-Cathedral in Manila where Imelda was christened.

It was during the 1965 campaign that Imelda became influential as a political figure at the national level, supporting her husband’s political tactics through her charismatic appeal and youth. Crowds of working-class Filipinos came out in droves to Marcos campaigns because they wanted to see the "beautiful wife of Marcos".

Campaign strategists incorporated Imelda’s public appeal into the overall tone of the Marcos-led Nacionalista campaign, asking Imelda to always appear at her best in public at all times regardless of the type of audience and encouraging her to wear her signature ternos as an integral part of their image strategy.

Marcos heavily relied on Imelda, eventually telling the press at one point that it was Imelda who had delivered the one million vote margin he needed to win the election.

It was in this period that Imelda described herself – a neophyte transitioning into a true political partner to her husband – as "a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon". This led one foreign journalist to call her "the iron butterfly".

Imelda had assumed a managerial position in her husband's campaign early on when Marcos faced his first challenge, which was to win the presidential candidacy for the Nacionalista Party. She enthusiastically ran a detailed campaign, befriending the 1,347 delegates of the Nacionalista Party Convention until Ferdinand Marcos won the party’s presidential nomination on November 21, 1964, for the Nacionalista Party.

During Ferdinand Marcos's first term, Imelda began doing the duties traditionally expected of a First Lady, mostly social events and public appearances. Imelda became a power broker. Receptions at her offices in the Malacañang "Music Room" were sought after by cabinet members, heads of financing institutions, and business leaders who felt that she had Ferdinand's ear.

A year later in March 1966, Marcos established the Cultural Center of the Philippines through Executive Order No. 60 and arranged for Imelda to be elected chairman of the board in a bid to change the perception that she was just another "politician's wife".

Ferdinand Marcos was elected as the 10th president of the Philippines on November 9, 1965. When he was inaugurated on December 30, 1965, Imelda officially became the First Lady.

The Romualdez clan had been torn apart by the presidential campaign. To fix this, Imelda allegedly sent out invitations to family members, some of whom supported the opposing party, and told them they were all welcome at their house on Ortega Street in San Juan, which was then part of Rizal.

Ferdinand and Imelda held Mass in the courtyard of their house on Ortega Street before proceeding to Luneta Park for the inauguration ceremonies.

At night, a state dinner hosted 60 guests in the reception hall of the Malacañang Palace.

In the first three years of being First Lady, she spent ₱1 million for the beautification of the Paco Park and ₱24 million for the beautification of Fort Santiago.

In May 1966, Imelda pushed a twelve million peso plan to pool together the social welfare efforts of several dozen social welfare groups. The plan involved the construction of welfare villages and the reorientation of personnel to staff them. The cornerstone for first village, the Reception and Study Center in Quezon City was laid in 1966, and several more were built from then until 1968: Marilla Hills in Alabang, the Children's Orphanage in Pasay, the Molave Village in Tanay, Rizal, a Home for the Aged in Quezon City, and the Philippine Village at Manila International Airport.

In mid-1967, Imelda started the "Share for Progress" Seed Dispersal Program a project that suggested making vegetable gardens out of idle lots all over the country. By 1968, 309,392 kits containing seeds had been distributed in over 1500 towns.

The "Blue Ladies", a group initially composed of wives of political men in the Nacionalista Party, had played a critical role during Marcos's 1965 campaign. They contributed funds and provided publicity, giving the campaign a personal touch by visiting factories and farms to shake hands and have small conversations with voters, making door-to-door appeals in the slum areas. That year they also introduced to politics the purchase of radio and television time, to campaign for Marcos, through the use of little speeches for the voters. This was affordable because the Blue Ladies were mostly prominent matrons and/or beautiful youthful girls married to men of means.

Upon becoming First Lady, Imelda often asked members of the Blue Ladies to accompany her on her trips out of the country. One of her most famous socialite friends was Cristina Ford.

Imelda's Blue Ladies—specifically Maria Luisa, a daughter of the rich Madrigal family and the wife of Daniel Vazquez—contributed to the fashion spending of Imelda. In 1968, Maria Luisa accompanied Imelda on an overseas trip, during which Imelda and daughter Imee spent $3.3 million. At this time Vazquez and Maria Luisa opened a Citibank account. In November 1968, the couple added "Fernanda Vazquez" as a joint holder of the bank account. An allegation that Imelda and Fernanda Vazquez are one and the same is validated by the notations for the bank account that had Imelda Marcos's handwriting.

On July 4, 1966, the First Lady invited the Beatles—then on tour in the Philippines—to perform at a private event in the Palace, but the invitation was declined. As a result of the rejection, an order to lock down Manila International Airport was enacted; this resulted in mobs trying to storm the band's hotel rooms and prevent them from leaving the country. There were also reports that a ₱100,000 tax assessment was issued to their manager.

The Dovie Beams scandal, which began as rumors in the late 1960s, eventually led to a significant change in Imelda's public role. President Marcos had met the American actress after she arrived in Manila in 1968 to play the female lead in Maharlika, a propaganda film portraying Ferdinand's supposed exploits during World War II. According to Beams, the two had an affair and she was moved into one of Ferdinand's safe houses, where she recorded their sexual encounters with Ferdinand's full consent. These tapes were later played in a press conference, causing great humiliation for Imelda.

Members of the Marcos Cabinet such as Cesar Virata and Gerardo Sicat recount that Imelda used the humiliation of the Dovie Beams affair as leverage to begin developing an independent political agenda which gave her more and more political power. Initially, this meant that Imelda had free rein on her projects while her husband prepared for the 1969 presidential campaign, but as Marcos's health declined, it involved her being put in increasingly powerful positions, including those of Minister of Human Settlements and of Governor of Metro Manila.

In July 1974, the annual Ms. Universe pageant was held in Manila, to which then First Lady Imelda Marcos allegedly spent ₱40 million (US$5.5 million) for the renovation of all public and private infrastructures throughout Manila, and the other cities in which the Ms. Universe pageant participants were subsequently toured.

Given that the President hardly left the Malacañang Palace, Ferdinand increasingly sent his wife on official visits to other countries as a de facto vice president.

When the Marcoses went to the United States in September 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson offered Imelda the Philippine war damage claims totaling US$28 million. President Johnson agreed to have US$3.5 million be used as funds for the Cultural Center (CCP), one of Imelda's projects.

For the inauguration of the CCP, a gala opening of the Golden Salakot, a pageant-drama of a story about the prehistory of the Philippines, occurred on September 8, 1969. US President Richard Nixon was invited but instead California Governor (and future President) Ronald Reagan, along with his wife, flew to the country on Air Force One for the event. There were accounts that the First Lady attempted to bring other celebrities in by getting them tickets to ride Air Force One, but she was denied this luxury by President Nixon. Accounts have also mentioned that this trip by the then-Governor Reagan and his wife led to the closeness of the Reagans and Marcoses.

In 1971, Imelda attended Iran's 2,500-year celebration of the Persian Empire of the founding of the Persian Empire. This trip, according to palace insiders, provided her with a social introduction to some of the world's wealthiest people.

On May 19, 1972, the Constitutional Convention delegate for Leyte's first district, Eduardo Quintero, accused Imelda and thirteen others of bribing some of the convention members to vote against provisions which would have prevented Marcos from retaining power beyond the two four-year terms allowed him by the previous constitution.

In the stress following the accusations and media circus, Imelda claimed to have suffered a miscarriage. Later, this was revealed to be a hoax to avoid Quintero's charges. According to Ellison, this was "an eloquent example of the lengths to which Imelda would go to support [Ferdinand] and her ambition".

In Ferdinand's diary preceding May, he wrote that he and Imelda were planning to wager all their power and wealth "on a single throw of the dice of fate for the sake of the people and the Republic".

On the eve of September 5, 1972, tourism minister Manuel Elizalde called each member of Manila's foreign press corps to a party. Imelda arrived at the party, allegedly rambling about democracy and how only the Americans could afford it. 18 days later, Martial Law was announced. Ferdinand stated the purpose of the Martial Law was to create a "New Society" with reformed institutions, no inequalities, corruption, or crime. Imelda called it "martial law with a smile". Days after the announcement, a warrant of arrest was issued for Amelita Cruz, author of the "you-know-who" columns on Imelda. Cruz was told that the orders "came directly from the music room", Imelda's palace study.

During this time period, she orchestrated public events using national funds to bolster her and her husband's image. She secured the Miss Universe 1974 pageant in Manila, which required the construction of the Folk Arts Theater in less than three months. She organized the Kasaysayan ng Lahi, a festival showcasing Philippine history. She also initiated social programs, such as the Green Revolution, which was intended to address hunger by encouraging the people to plant produce in household gardens, and created a national family-planning program.

In 1972, she took control of the distribution of a bread ration called Nutribun, which actually came from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).