Imelda Marcos
Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez was born at dawn in San Miguel, Manila, on the 2nd of July 1929. Her parents were Vicente Orestes Romualdez, a lawyer, and his second wife, Maria Remedios Trinidad. Imelda is the sixth of Vicente's eleven children, and Remedios' firstborn. Her paternal great-grandfather is Fray Francisco Miguel Lopez 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 Lopez de Romualdez; 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 Romualdezes were wealthy. Around 1932, the financial conditions of Imelda's family began to decline. Imelda's parents were 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's health began to fail and she died on the 7th of April 1938, due to double pneumonia.
Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos met on the 6th of April 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 the 16th of April 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 the 17th of April 1954, Ferdinand and Imelda were secretly married by a reluctant Francisco Chanco, a judge befriended by Ferdinand who lived in the area.
In September 1972, Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law. 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). An assassination attempt against Imelda Marcos occurred on the 7th of December 1972, when an assailant named Carlito Dimahilig tried to stab her on live television with a bolo knife in Nayong Pilipino but was shot by the police.
After Imelda left Malacañang Palace, press reports worldwide took note of her lavish wardrobe, said to include 15 mink coats, 508 gowns, 888 handbags, and 3,000 pairs of shoes. Some news reports estimated that there were up to 7,500 pairs, but Time magazine reported that the final tally was 1,060.
A portion of her famous shoe collection is now kept in the National Museum of the Philippines, while another is displayed in a shoe museum in Marikina. Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) damaged her ancestral home in Tacloban, which also serves as a museum, although she still retains homes in Ilocos Norte and Makati, where she resides.
In the late 1980s, the revelation that Imelda Marcos had "amassed a huge collection of art, jewellery, property and , most famously , at least 1,000 pairs of shoes", had turned her into a household name, frequently compared to Marie Antoinette of France, except "with shoes". This led to the coining of the Philippine English adjective "Imeldific", to describe people who have "the Imelda Marcos syndrome" , tending to be extravagant and not being afraid to flaunt it.
On February 25, Ferdinand Marcos, with his wife Imelda by his side, held the inauguration at Malacañang Palace. The couple later emerged on the Palace balcony in front of a loyalist crowd and Imelda sang a song for the crowd. Later that day, Ferdinand Marcos finally agreed to step down and was given safe passage for him and his entire family to flee to Hawaii, United States.
At midnight, the 26th of February 1986, the Marcos family fled the country to Hawaii with a party of about 80 individuals , the extended Marcos family and a number of close associates. Their arrival was controversial, and soon led to Hawaii residents calling on the government to force the Marcoses to leave.
The US Government initially hosted the exiles at Hickam Air Force Base. Ferdinand and Imelda moved into a pair of residences in Makiki Heights, Honolulu, a month later. Ferdinand Marcos eventually died in exile in September 1989. His son Bongbong was the only family member present at his deathbed.
On the 4th of November 1991, President Corazon Aquino allowed Imelda and her children to return to the Philippines so they could be formally charged in their tax fraud and corruption cases. After her return from exile, Imelda returned to politics. In 1992, Imelda ran for president in the 1992 Philippine presidential election, finishing 5th out of 7 candidates.
She was elected as a congresswoman of Leyte during the 1995 Philippine general election, representing the first district, despite facing a disqualification lawsuit in which the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. She chose not to seek re-election in Congress and instead sought the presidency again in the 1998 Philippine presidential election, but later withdrew to support the eventual winner Joseph Estrada, while she finished 9th among 11 candidates.
In October 2018, Marcos filed her certificate of candidacy to run for governor of Ilocos Norte in the 2019 Philippine general election to replace her daughter, Imee, who was term-limited and chose to run for senator. However, following her conviction of graft, she withdrew from the race a month later and was substituted by her grandson Matthew Manotoc, initially her running mate for vice governor.
In August 2019, writer/director Lauren Greenfield debuted her documentary film The Kingmaker at the 76th Venice Film Festival, after which it premiered at the Telluride Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the London Film Festival, the first documentary to ever debut at all four festivals in the same year. The documentary features the political career of Imelda Marcos with a focus on the Marcos family's efforts to rehabilitate the family's image and to return to political power , including her plans to see her son Bongbong become Vice President of the Philippines.
In the late 1990s, Imelda Marcos agreed to be the subject of a television documentary episode for PBS's Independent Lens, simply titled Imelda, by Ramona S. Diaz. Released in 2003, the film documents her marriage to future President of the Philippines Ferdinand Marcos, her rule under the dictatorship, her exile in Hawaii and her eventual return to the Philippines.
An original musical, Here Lies Love by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, spans her life from childhood to exile and utilizes largely disco and club music and innovative immersive staging. The title is a direct reference to a phrase Imelda mentioned she wanted written on her tombstone. Originally conceived as a song cycle, it was presented in concert (Adelaide 2006, Carnegie Hall 2007) format and presented at Mass MoCA (2012) and Off-Broadway (2013, 2014, 15) at the Public Theatre.
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Common questions
When and where was Imelda Marcos born?
Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez was born at dawn in San Miguel, Manila, on the 2nd of July 1929. Her parents were Vicente Orestes Romualdez and Maria Remedios Trinidad.
How did Imelda Marcos meet Ferdinand Marcos?
Imelda Marcos met Ferdinand Marcos on the 6th of April 1954 during a budget hearing at the Philippine Congress. They married secretly on the 17th of April 1954 after an eleven-day courtship.
What happened to Imelda Marcos family during martial law?
Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in September 1972 while Imelda called it martial law with a smile. An assassination attempt against Imelda occurred on the 7th of December 1972 when Carlito Dimahilig tried to stab her on live television but was shot by police.
How many pairs of shoes did Imelda Marcos own?
Time magazine reported that the final tally for Imelda Marcos shoe collection was 1,060 pairs. Some news reports estimated there were up to 7,500 pairs but this number remains disputed.
When did the Marcos family flee to Hawaii?
The Marcos family fled the country to Hawaii at midnight on the 26th of February 1986 with about 80 individuals including close associates and extended family members. The US Government initially hosted the exiles at Hickam Air Force Base before they moved to residences in Makiki Heights, Honolulu.