Ready to Meet Imeldific?

A month ago, Newsweek magazine came up with an article about the Greediest People in the World. Prominent figures like Genghis Khan, Charles Ponzi, Bernie Madoff, Imelda Marcos... wait. The former First Lady of our country? For the new generation, her inclusion to the shameful list is a shocker but for those who witnessed or somewhat had a knowledge of what Imelda Marcos is, the naming was just and proper.

The article was very timely for me since I’ve just bought a book written by Ricardo Manapat published in 1991 entitled “Some are smarter than others”. The book was actually the expanded & updated version of a 40-page pamphlet circulated under the same title in September of 1979. The piece talks about the history of Marcos’ crony capitalism and how privilege and wealth were created for a few individuals while pushing the majority of Filipino people to live in poverty. But for this purpose, we will just zero- in on Imelda Marcos’ activities as well as her extravagance to give justice on the article.

When Marcos became President in 1965, approximately 13.4 million Filipinos could not meet the minimum requirement for food, clothing and shelter. Several stories of how the Marcos regime treated poor Filipinos were documented. In 1972, His wife Imelda headed a cleanliness campaign to attract foreign tourists. They cleared squatter communities which according to them were an eye sore to those who passed this area. There was even a story of a woman who was beaten and died of heart attack after a protest on clearing operation by the government. Most of the families were forced to relocate to places without electricity, food and water. Many dies majority are children.

Imelda also built several hospitals like the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, Kidney Center to name a few. She also organized the Nutrition Center of the Philippines which received donations from foreign countries. These donations however were diverted to Imelda’s personal accounts in London and were later used to buy diamonds.

Since I’ve mentioned her penchant to collect diamonds, I will now tour you to Imelda’s insurmountable appetite for wealth and power.

According to partial documents retrieved after the First family left the country, Imelda and her family spent $ 68 million in the last 2 years of their reign. At least $ 11 million were allocated for clothes, paintings etc. In April 1983, Imelda spent $ 90,000 in one day buying antiques in Vigan, Ilocos. Also on a single day, Imelda purchased sheets worth $ 10,340 from New York. She also bought expensive perfume not by the ounce but by the gallon. The heavily publicized pairs of shoes were counted where the final figure was pegged at 2,800 pairs. It is known that Imelda owns a diamond-studded pair of shoes but this pair has disappeared.

She also had a personal bus with 14 armchairs, 2 beds, a kitchen and a bath. I will not go into details about their luxury cars, vessels and aircrafts. Just name it, they have it! Her family owned an approximately 50 residential houses. This does not include her mansion, estates and commercial buildings in foreign countries.
During her trips abroad, she usually instructed her London staff to withdraw $ 10 million for her “pocket money”. Imelda also collected artworks from Pablo Picasso to our very own Fernando Amorsolo. Her jewelry collection is one of the finest in the world. She was even labelled as the largest buyer of jewelry in the late 70’s. One of her priced possession is a necklace made of diamonds worth a staggering $ 16 million.

Imelda also value friendship and loyalty. From 1983 to 1984, she gave away around $ 70 million worth of gifts. She easily gave $ 3,000 in cash for birthdays, weddings etc. She gave larger amount to her children and grandchildren like the $ 6,000 Christmas gift to Borgy and Alfonso in 1984. She also gave out jewelry, watches and rosaries to her guests. For special friends she invited to stay with her at the Palace, she would leave jewels in their rooms for them to take. She also “lent” money to friend George Hamilton to buy a mansion in Beverly Hills and a plantation house in Mississippi. She also gave an expensive Steinway concert grand piano to Van Cliburn which was delivered to him on his birthday in 1979. She also helped Rony Rogoff, an Israeli violinist, acquire a 1715 Stradivarius violin worth $ 350,000. Time Magazine also reported that Imelda gave Nancy Reagan a $ 60,000 worth of emerald necklace. To her husband, Ferdinand, she gave more. The US Customs agent testified that they checked a suitcase of Marcos containing 24 bricks of gold with inscription; “To my husband on our 24th wedding anniversary”.

Many believed that Ferdinand Marcos played a vital role in molding Imelda to what we perceived her to be. According to many accounts, Ferdinand invited Imelda and her two friends to a dinner date. On the way to the restaurant, Marcos made some excuse to stop by in his bank and invited the 3 ladies to step inside the vault. Imelda eyes nearly pooped out after seeing all the cash not in pesos but in American dollars! Marcos gave one Karat of diamond ring each day he courted Imelda. Had she waited a few more days, she would surely receive more expensive rings. But Imelda couldn’t wait any longer. After 11 days, she married Ferdinand even if she was engaged that time with another man.

I can still share with you other unbelievable wealth Imelda accumulated during their term in office. But I felt somehow that I already laid down some of the important facts about the issue. To end this, allow me to borrow some quote from Imelda Marcos herself. “To be rich is no longer a sin, it’s a miracle. Good girls go to heaven, bad girls go everywhere”.