Imelda: Miss Misunderstood

Joben Ryan A. Padre

2013-42972

Philippine culture is indeed very rich but a particular part of it that never fails to amuse me is the time of Martial Law. Normally, the first people that come to mind when we talk about Martial Law are Ferdinand Marcos, Ninoy Aquino, and Cory Aquino. These people were the images of strength, power, and leadership, but Martial Law was somehow also a time of wealth, serenity, and beauty. And in those times, no one else embodied these traits as well as Imelda Romualdez Marcos did.

“Imelda Marcos is probably the most misunderstood person in Philippine history.”

The first statement of the documentary is the one that struck me the most, maybe because it’s true. It’s striking because I, myself, have always looked at the Marcoses, especially Imelda, as the bad guys. I know I can’t judge people if I don’t know their story so I took the opportunity to watch the documentary in order to know Imelda better.

She’s beautiful, smart, and comes from a well-known clan. However, every beautiful masterpiece has a small mistake. Perhaps the biggest flaw in Imelda’s personality is that she’s too idealistic; maybe too idealistic that she was willing to sacrifice many morals in order to push through with what she felt was beautiful and right. She wanted to make the Philippines relevant. She wanted to place our country on the map. She wanted to make the nation beautiful. Imelda did everything that she could in order to get what she wanted simply because she could. She was the first lady of the Philippines, a country governed by two decades by a person who happens to be her husband. Imelda may have had good intent, but she may have gotten a little too far. However, she still thinks otherwise.

Now, almost three decades after all those events have transpired and the Marcos family still have their hands attached to Philippine politics. Rumors are swirling about Bong-Bong Marcos, Ferdinand and Imelda’s son, running for presidency in 2016 and they still have the supporters to push through with their endeavour.

Imelda Marcos is a symbol of beauty and power. As much as people hate her for knowing probably 20% of her life, people who know her well still adore and love her up to now. I am not a fan of the Marcoses and I cannot say that I like them, but I am glad to have known Imelda a lot better so that I can either attack or defend her better. Truly, “She is probably the most misunderstood person in Philippine history.”

Come to think of it, we should thank the Marcoses because one way or another, they indirectly sparked nationalism.