Imelda Marcos

Birth and family background

Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romualdez was born in the city of San Miguel, Manila, on July 2, 1929. Her parents were Vicente Orestes Romualdez, a lawyer, and his second wife, Remedios Romualdez. Vicente's first wife, Juanita, died allegedly of leukemia on August 3, 1926. Imelda is the sixth of Vicente's eleven children, and the first of Remedios's.

Born into the Romualdez clan, a prestigious political dynasty hailing from the province of Leyte, Imelda grew up to a wealthy family of catolico cerrados, devout Roman Catholics. She was immediately baptized after the day of her birth by Monsignor Juan Somera in the parish church of San Miguel, Manila. Her grandmother, Donya Trinidad Lopez de Romualdez, was the matriarch of the Romualdez clan. She and her husband, Daniel Romualdez Arcilla, were considered the first ever Romualdezes to have lived in Tolosa, Leyte, originally for the purpose of Daniel's health, but soon became the mark for the flourish of the Romualdez clan in said municipality.

Some other notable members of Imelda's family are her uncle Norberto Romualdez, who was Philippine Supreme Court Justice Associate and the first of the Romualdezes to achieve national prominence, and her younger brother Benjamin "Kokoy" Romualdez, who served as the Governor of Leyte and also the Philippine Ambassador during the Marcos administration.

Early childhood

At the time of her birth, the Romualdezes had the comforts of material prosperity and had the reputation of wealthy Manilans. However, around 1931–1932, the financial conditions of Imelda's family began to decline.

Imelda's parents were separated for a time and Imelda's mother left their home due to domestic differences between Imelda's mother, Remedios, and her father's first children. During this separation, Remedios worked for the nuns at the Asilo de San Vicente de Paul. Vicente and Remedios reconciled thereafter.

To avoid further conflict, Remedios and her children moved to their house's garage. At 1937 after Conchita's birth, Remedios's health began to fail. On April 7, 1938, she died due to double pneumonia. In her ten years of marriage, Imelda had five siblings – Benjamin, Alita, Alfredo, Armando and Conchita.

On the same year, 1938, Imelda's father gave up Manila due to his declining fortunes in his law practice and returned to Tacloban where he could support his family with a simpler lifestyle. Imelda has been claimed to have met General Douglas MacArthur when he landed in Palo, Leyte during the Philippines Campaign in 1944. She speaks Tagalog and English, the two official languages of The Philippines, as well as Waray, the regional language of Leyte.

Elementary

Imelda studied grade one in Holy Ghost College where her stepsisters studied. In the school year 1936–1937, registration records in Holy Ghost College showed that Imelda didn't enroll again. This disappearance was easily accounted for by two sets of pictures of Imelda which were taken after she received First Communion at the Holy Infant Academy in Tacloban, Leyte.

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

High school

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 came, she lined up with a hundred other young girls in wooden clogs at the Leyte High School, eager to resume her studies. The year was 1944. She finished 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. Imelda studied with the Sisters 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% throughout her primary and high school. High school ended in the summer of 1948 when her class posed for the last time in the blue-and-white uniform of Holy Infant.

College

Imelda learned her first political lesson when she ran for president of the student council at St. Paul's College, now the flourishing Divine Word University. That was 1951, only three years before her marriage to Marcos. At that time, she was about to graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She was put up as 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, she did some practice teaching at the Chinese high school in town shortly before graduating in 1952. She had won a scholarship to study music at the Philippine Women's University under Maestra Adoracion Reyes, a close friend of Imelda's cousin, Loreto Romualdez Ramos. She had a job at a music store but left this for a better one at the Central Bank. Straight from the Central Bank, she hurried to the University every day. After a few lessons, Adoracion was convinced Imelda had talent and persuaded her to enroll at the College of Music and Fine Arts at PWU, under a special arrangement that would put her on register while Adoracion would continue to give her free lessons.

Life in Manila with Danieling Romualdez

She came back to Manila in 1952 during the regime of President Quirino and stayed in the house of her relative, Danieling Romualdez, who was a formidable politician and the Speaker Protempore of the Lower House of Congress. Danieling Romualdez did not have children on his own but had adopted three orphans. According to the book The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos by Carmen Navarro-Pedrosa, her status in the house of Danieling Romualdez was "higher than servants and lower than family members as a poor relative". During her father's visit to Manila, she worked as a salesgirl in a store called P. E. Domingo where Vicente Romualdez was infuriated at Eduardo Romualdez (the Chairman of Rehabilitation Finance Corporation) and Danieling Romualdez because Vicente thought that his two nephews were "selling his daughter".

A college student, a banker

To calm the indignation of Vicente Romualdez, Eduardo and Danieling exercised their political and economic influence to find work for Imelda in the Central Bank where she worked in the Intelligence Division under Braulio Hipuna, the Chief Clerk of the Intelligence Division. She later had vocal lessons in Philippine Women's University and met Adoracion Reyes, a teacher in the College of Music and Fine Arts of Philippine Women's University, who was introduced to her by her cousin, Loreto, and played an important role in getting Imelda to take vocal sessions in the university by providing a chance to get a scholarship. According to Susie Abadilla, who took the same vocal sessions together with Imelda, she was not so friendly, and the reason presumably stemmed from the strict and busy routines back then, and her reluctance to talk about her family and her past. Due to the suggestion of having a performance, which became the first and last performance in a music hall from her cousin, Loreto, in Holy Ghost College, she performed three songs, "Calm is the Night", "Sin Tu Amor", and "False Prophet".

A way to fame

Her aspiration for fame commenced after she met Angel Anden and was asked to be a cover girl of the Valentine issue of the magazine (printed on Feb 15, 1953) called This Week (now, Chronical Magazine), where Anden was the editor. Imelda was not able to get an approval and acquire a sponsorship to participate in the Miss Manila contest from her cousins (Danieling, Eduardo, and Loreto), but, with the help of Adoracion, gained a sponsorship from Philippine Women's University after a meeting with the president of the university, Mrs. Francisca Benitez. The controversial Miss Manila beauty pageant dawned on Mar 1, 1953, when Imelda and the Reyes spouses were in great despair after hearing news that Norma Jimenez became the candidate of Miss Philippines and the winner of Miss Manila, and sought to meet the mayor of Manila, Aresenio Lacson, who revoked the decision and made Imelda Romualdez the winner of Miss Manila. The mayor announced that there were violations of rules by the International Fair Board, and it is the mayor's authority to nominate the candidate of the City of Manila for the beauty contest. It turned out that Imelda won 655 points whereas Norma Jimenez acquired 453 points. Both Imelda and Norma participated in Miss Philippines; however, the winner of Miss Philippines was Cristina Galang (Caedo, now) from Tarlac, who became one of the members of Imelda's band of women campaigners, Blue Ladies.

Courtship and marriage to Ferdinand Marcos

Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos officially met on April 6, 1954 at the Philippine Congress, during a budget hearing of then President Ramon Magsaysay. Ferdinand was part of the opposition team who led the argument against the budget, while Imelda was there accompanied by her cousin, Paz "Pacing" Romualdez to visit her cousin Danieling, who was the Speaker of the House. During a recess Imelda caught Ferdinand's eye, and he asked a journalist friend, Jose Guevara of The Manila Times, to introduce him to Imelda. At that time, Ferdinand already knew of Imelda and her reputation not only as a member of the prominent Romualdez clan, but also as a part of the Miss Manila Controversy of 1953. Imelda, on the other hand, knew very little of the 36-year-old Congressman, despite his prestige. After comparing heights and confirming that he was at least an inch taller than her, Ferdinand immediately decided to pursue her in marriage. This began what was later known as the "Eleven-Day Whirlwind", where Ferdinand, with the help of Guevarra, courted Imelda for eleven days.

Throughout the Holy Week of that year, Ferdinand visited Imelda's house once, and when Imelda claimed that she plans to spend the holidays in Baguio, Ferdinand and Guevarra did not hesitate and offered her a ride up to Danieling's family mansion where she planned to stay, while the two booked a room in nearby Pines. For the remaining days of that Holy Week, Ferdinand showered Imelda with flowers and gifts and would visit her daily, prodding her to sign the marriage license that would close off the agreement. And on April 16, 1954, Good Friday, after having been asked by Guevarra, allegedly jokingly, if she wanted to be "the First Lady of the Land someday", Imelda finally agreed to sign it. Immediately after that, on April 17, 1954, they were secretly married by a reluctant Francisco Chanco, a judge befriended by Ferdinand, who lived in the area. However, only after receiving the blessing of Vicente Orestes, Imelda's father, which Ferdinand asked for through telegram on Easter Sunday, did Imelda and Ferdinand officially have a Catholic wedding, on May 1, 1954, at the San Miguel Pro-Cathedral in Manila.

Ferdinand Marcos's campaign and Imelda's contributions

Imelda knew that her husband Ferdinand Marcos had dreamed of becoming the president of the Philippines ever since he was a congressman. One reason why Marcos married Imelda, aside from her physical charms, was because she was a Romualdez—an aristocrat. Imelda's beauty, as well as her background, was appreciated to a great extent by Marcos and Marcos believed she would not only add light to his daily life but also to his political career.

Imelda, coming from a family who practiced a simple lifestyle, had initial difficulties adjusting to her husband's extravagant lifestyle. She once complained that she was only earning a hundred and twenty pesos a month despite her hard labor. To this, Marcos laughed and said that it was her fault that she was working hard only for such an amount. This was a turning point for Imelda to no longer feel guilty about spending money. From then on, she pushed herself to extreme luxury.

Imelda was expected to be sophisticated, elegant, and well versed by her husband. Marcos knew that having a supportive wife, a trophy that he could be proud of, would gain him more supporters as well as votes. Imelda began dressing herself with expensive clothes and made every effort to become the person whom her husband wanted her to be.

In her efforts to be the perfect wife, she was often given an eye for trying too hard, but at the same time, she became a subject of envy for fellow politicians' wives. Imelda learned how to get people's attention and to focus it on both her and her husband. She reached out to every single person who was seen as essential in Marcos's campaign. Her efforts were not original, but extraordinary. No other politicians' wives shook hands with all the delegates, visited their homes, genuinely understood the concerns they had, aside from Imelda. She bombarded them with gifts when necessary.

Not only was Imelda good with people, she was also a skilled mediator who mended broken relationships that occurred with Marcos. During Marcos's presidency in the Nacionalista Party, Fernando Lopez, back then Marcos's vice presidential running mate, was unwilling to continue his political career. Marcos asked Imelda to help him mend ties with Lopez, and Imelda burst into tears in order to convince Lopez that he should run as the Nacionalista vice presidential candidate.

By the time Marcos was campaigning to become President, Imelda's influence in Marcos's political career was crucial. Her husband may have been a good tactician, but it was Imelda's determination and popularity that ensured votes for him. Marcos heavily relied on Imelda, and as time passed, Imelda was no longer a clone of Marcos. Instead, she had become his political partner.

First Lady

Imelda Marcos served as First Lady after her husband Ferdinand was elected on 9 November 1965 as the 10th President of the Philippines.

Imelda's role during Ferdinand Marcos's presidential campaign

Ferdinand Marcos was aided by his wife in his political campaigns. Imelda used her charismatic appeal to get votes for her husband.

Marcos initially needed to win votes of the delegates of the Nacionalista Party for the presidential candidacy. Imelda assumed the managerial position in her husband's campaign. The other candidates of the party noted her enthusiasm during the campaign; she met with and befriended every single delegate of the 1,347 who would have a say in the Nacionalista Party Convention. She would talk with each of them, visit them in their own homes, and attend gatherings such as birthday parties, anniversaries, and weddings. Of all the presidential candidates' wives, Imelda was the only one who went through a detailed and personal campaign for her husband. On November 21, 1964, Ferdinand Marcos won the presidential nomination for the Nacionalista Party.

Imelda also managed to convince Fernando Lopez to accept the vice-presidential nomination along with presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos. She first invited Lopez to personally meet with her in his suite. Lopez accepted the invite but preferred to talk with her in her suite instead. To persuade Lopez, her methods include appealing to Lopez's sympathy by telling him the struggles that she and Ferdinand faced during the campaign for Ferdinand's nomination and how she feels being abandoned by Lopez. Lopez refused multiple times until Imelda cried in front of him. Imelda then proceeded to hand him and make him sign a document stating that he accepts the nomination as the Nacionalista vice-presidential candidate.

During the presidential election itself, she delivered votes from the southern province of Leyte, and Manila. She was especially popular with the poor. Imelda also used her voice to appeal to voters, singing during campaigns. Her songs are usually varieties of local folk songs.

Imelda also led the "Blue Ladies", a group initially composed of wives of political men in the Nacionalista Party. The "Blue Ladies" initially numbered about two dozen. When Ferdinand won the nomination, they swelled into a hundred. The unofficial chairman was Pacita Gonzalez. Formed during Christmas season of 1965, the members helped Imelda during campaigns by contributing funds and providing publicity. The campaigns led by Imelda Marcos's "Blue Ladies" highlighted personal touch by organizing teas and receptions. They visited factories and farms to shake hands and have small conversations with the voters, making door-to-door appeals in the slum areas. They also utilized the new innovation brought into politics that year by buying radio and television time in order to campaign for Marcos through the use of little speeches for the voters. The cost was not a problem for Marcos seeing as how most of its members were composed of prominent matrons and/or beautiful youthful girls married to men of means.

Marcos strategists took advantage of Imelda's exceptional charm and youth by incorporating these and her other striking qualities into the presidential candidate's overall tone for the Marcos-led Nacionalista campaign. They were able to use her by attracting normal folk from their daily activities to attend a Marcos rally to see the "beautiful wife of Marcos" themselves. The mere mention of Imelda attending a rally would make people attend the rally and scamper for a place near the stage, not to listen to the speeches, but rather just to see the lovely wife of Ferdinand Marcos. She was asked by the Marcos aides to always appear in public at all times at her best regardless of the type of audience. An integral part of their strategy was for Imelda to wear her standard ternos as part of the campaign design.

Ferdinand acknowledged that she delivered the one million vote margin he needed to be elected.

The presidential campaign, as described by publicists, was the point at which Imelda became influential as a political figure. She would later be dubbed by a foreign journalist as "the iron butterfly," after Imelda's description of herself as "a butterfly breaking out of its cocoon" — from a political neophyte to her husband Ferdinand's political partner.

As First Lady, Imelda Marcos was summoned more than once from the Palace in order to campaign for her husband and Nacionalista candidates 1985 presidential elections and during the 1967 senatorial and local elections as its results were of importance for the results of the succeeding 1969 presidential election. This was based on what had happened to former President Diosdado Macapagal wherein the defeat of his Senate candidates had presaged his own fall on the following election. Marcos concentrated his efforts in Cebu which indicated that he felt that his most serious rival would be Senator Sergio Osmeña, Jr. Marcos used the First Lady as his special ace and made her campaign in Cebu using her glamor and charm among the Cebuanos. In the 1985 & 1969 presidential elections, Ferdinand even called Imelda Marcos as his "secret weapon." Through the combined efforts of the President and First Lady, they were able to repudiate the leadership of Osmena in his own province. All eight Senatorial candidates of the Nacionalista party in Cebu won and 47 out of 49 Cebu towns were captured by the Marcos-led Nacionalistas.

Imelda's first day as First Lady

On December 30, 1965, Imelda officially became the First Lady.

The Romualdez clan was 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 in Ortega.

Before the Marcoses' departure for the inauguration ceremonies, they held mass in the courtyard of their house in Ortega Street, San Juan. Imelda invited an old German priest, Father Albert Ganzewinkel, who had been her favorite teacher at St. Paul in Tacloban, to hold the mass. Ferdinand and Imelda then went to the Luneta Park for the inauguration ceremonies and were seated at the very center of the Luneta grandstand. They were surrounded by foreign dignitaries and government officials. Allegedly, a mass of anonymous men and women attended the ceremony to glimpse the beauty of the new First Lady. After the ceremony, she was described as someone with "such dignity, such regality."

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

Imelda's projects

Imelda had her own office in Malacañang, known as the "Music Room", where she received her callers. Here she met various cabinet members, heads of financing institutions, leaders of business communities, etc. She also had established her own foundation which contributed to her numerous projects which were further explained in a pamphlet called "The Compassionate Society."

At first, Imelda did the duties expected of a First Lady, the examples set aside by her predecessors. She graced a fashion show, inaugurated a bank, attended the army ladies' tea. Mid-January 1966, she announced her intricate and expansive plans to the public. Ferdinand asked Imelda "to revive the national pride and curb national weaknesses." Imelda's answer was the Cultural Center.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is considered to be the premier symbol of Imelda's unrelenting efforts. It was designed by Architect Leandro Locsin, and was built on a reclaimed land along Roxas Boulevard, Manila and covered an area of about 21 hectares. Ninety thousand pesos was granted by the Philippine-American Culture Foundation for its construction. Upon completion, however, it amounted to Php 50 million — a 333.33% increase from the original budget. Although it is notable that prices of the construction materials such as cement, steel, and tiles increased by 30–40% within this time frame, the escalation in the increase of the expenditures are highly questionable.

In May 1966, Imelda pushed through with campaigning for social welfare. Her plan was to pool together all the social welfare efforts of several dozen social welfare groups. Imelda wanted to build welfare villages to meet the needs of children with problems, and reorient a personnel to staff the villages. The scheme called for 12 million pesos. In November 1966, the cornerstone for the Reception and Study Center in Quezon City was laid. Until 1968, other villages were built: Marilla Hills in Alabang, the Children's Orphanage in Pasay City, the Molave Village in Tanay, a Home for the Aged in Quezon City, and the Philippine Village at the Manila International Airport.

Imelda launched the Maligayang Pasko Drive, a children's festival on Christmas of 1966. The helpers were college students and members of the "Blue Ladies." She spent PHP 50,000 in 1966, PHP 75,000 in 1967, and PHP 150,000 in 1968.

In the first three years of being First Lady, she spent PHP 1 million for the beautification of the Paco Cemetery and 24 million for the beautification of Fort Santiago. She gives 140,00 pesos yearly in prizes for nationwide beautification contests. She set aside 150,000 pesos for an open-air museum in St. Ana Church diggings. For the restoration of the Intramuros gates, Imelda was given PHP 150,000 by the government.

Mid-year of 1967, Imelda started the Seed Disposal Program or Share for Progress, a project that suggested making vegetable gardens out of idle lots all over the country. 309,392 kits containing seeds were distributed in over 1,500 towns by 1968.

In July 1974, the annual Ms. Universe pageant was held in Manila, to which then first lady Imelda Marcos allegedly spent PHP 40 million (USD 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.

Imelda also established a network of Philippine Centers in major cities abroad such as New York City, Canberra, Hong Kong, and San Francisco.

Foreign relations

Since 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 Johnson offered Imelda the Philippine war damage claims totaling USD 28 million. President Johnson agreed to have USD 3.5 million be used as funds for the Cultural Center, 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. The United States of America's President Nixon was invited but instead Ronald Reagan, California's Governor, along with his wife, flew to the country using the Air Force One for the event. There were accounts that the First Lady attempted to bring other celebrities through getting them tickets to ride the Air Force one but she was denied of this luxury by President Nixon. Accounts have also mentioned that this trip of the then California's Governor and wife led to the closeness of the Reagans and Marcoses.

In 1971, Imelda attended Iran's celebration 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. In the same year, she initiated the first of many trips to Russia; it was dubbed as "cultural missions" but eventually led to the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Philippines.

In 1975, after the assassination of King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Imelda wanted to extend the official condolences. Women were not welcome in the Saudi court, but Imelda, through her connection to the surgeon who previously performed a heart surgery on the new King, managed to be the first woman guest to be honored.

Family

Ferdinand had been involved in affairs after marrying Imelda Marcos. Ferdinand's most public affair was with American actress Dovie Beams in 1966. While staying in one of the President's safe houses, she recorded her affair with the President. These tapes were later played in a press conference, causing great humiliation for Imelda. They stayed married through a deal; Imelda had free rein on her projects in exchange for delivering votes for Ferdinand in the second election.

Social Life

Imelda would often ask members of the Blue Ladies to accompany her on her trips out of the country. Imelda would also help some of the members in their investments and own businesses. 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 Dr. Vasquez—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. It was also at this time that Dr. Daniel Vasquez and Maria Luisa opened a Citibank account. On November of the same year, the couple added Fernanda Vazquez as a joint holder of the bank account. An allegation that Imelda and Fernanda Vasquez are one and the same is validated by the fact that the notations for the bank account had Imelda Marcos's handwriting.

On July 4, 1966, The First Lady also invited The Beatles to perform for a private affair in the Palace but the invitation was rejected. An order to lock down the Manila International Airport was executed as a result of the rejection. This resulted in mobs surging to the personal space of The Beatles. There were also reports that their manager was issued a PHP 100,00 tax assessment.

Imelda's actions preceding martial law

Early September 1972, former ambassador to Japan Eduardo Quintero accused Imelda of bribing the convention members. In the stress following the accusations and media circus, Imelda 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 revealed 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. On that same day, 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.

As First Lady, she became influential. She stirred controversy after an assassination attempt against her occurred on 7 December 1972, when an assailant tried to stab her with a bolo knife but was shot by the police.The motive appeared to have been her role in her husband's presidency but human rights dissidents believed it was staged by the government.

Marcos 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).

In 1978, she was appointed a member of the Interim Batasang Pambansa (National Congress) representing Region IV-A. She was also appointed as Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary, allowing her to tour the United States, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Cuba. Throughout her travels, she became friends with Richard Nixon, Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro, and Joseph Tito. She traveled to Iraq to secure oil and to Libya for a peace treaty with the Moro National Liberation Front.

Imelda Marcos held the position of Minister of Human Settlements, allowing her to construct the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Philippine Heart Center, the Lung Center of the Philippines, the Philippine International Convention Center, the Coconut Palace, the Manila Film Center, and the Calauit Safari Park. She purchased property in Manhattan in the 1980s, including the US$51 million Crown Building, the Woolworth Building in 40 Wall Street, and the US$60 million Herald Centre. She declined to buy the Empire State Building because she felt it was "too ostentatious."

Power struggle

Imelda Marcos was instrumental in the 1980 exile of opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., who had suffered a heart attack during his imprisonment. Martial law in the Philippines was later lifted in 1981 but Ferdinand Marcos continued to be president. While her husband began to suffer from lupus, she effectively ruled in his place. Aquino returned in 1983 but was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon his arrival. With accusations against her beginning to rise, Ferdinand created the Agrava Commission, a fact-finding committee, to investigate her, ultimately finding her not guilty.

On 7 February 1986, snap elections were held between Ferdinand Marcos and Corazon Aquino, the widow of Benigno Aquino Jr. Despite her husband claiming to have won the elections, allegations of vote rigging led to mass protests that would be later known as the People Power Revolution. On 25 February, the Marcos family fled to Hawaii. After she left Malacañang Palace, she was found to have left behind 15 mink coats, 508 gowns, 1,000 handbags, and many pairs of shoes. Some news reports estimated that there were up to 7,500 pairs, but Time magazine reported that the final tally was only 1,060.

In October 1988, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, together with eight associates (including Adnan Khashoggi, a Saudi Arabian businessman and weapons smuggler believed to have been involved with her husband's regime), were indicted by a federal grand jury in Manhattan on charges of racketeering, conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice. Tobacco heiress Doris Duke posted $5 million bail for the former First Lady. The Marcos couple's defense team was led by criminal defense attorney Gerry Spence. Actor George Hamilton, an unindicted co-conspirator, testified at trial under a grant of immunity, acknowledging that he had received a $5.5-million loan from an associate of hers. In July 1990, following a three-month trial, she was acquitted of all charges. By that time, Ferdinand had died in exile in Hawaii on 28 September 1989.

Later years

Marcos was allowed to return to the Philippines by Corazon Aquino on 4 November 1991. The following year, she ran for president in the presidential elections on 11 May 1992, finishing 5th out of 7 candidates. On 8 May 1995, she was elected as a congresswoman of Leyte, representing the first district, despite facing a disqualification lawsuit in which the Supreme Court ruled in her favor. She sought the presidency again on 11 May 1998, but later withdrew to support the eventual winner Joseph Estrada and she finished 9th among 11 candidates. In November 2006, she started her own business, a fashion label that included designing jewelry. In March 2008, she was acquitted of charges of having illegally taken money from the country by the Manila Regional Trial Court due to reasonable doubt.

Marcos ran for the second district of Ilocos Norte in the elections on 10 May 2010 to replace her son, Ferdinand Jr., who ran for Senate under the Nacionalista Party. During her term, she held the position of Millennium Development Goals chairwoman in the Lower House. In 2011, the Sandiganbayan's Fifth Division ordered her to return US$280,000 in government funds taken by her and her husband from the National Food Authority. She won re-election on 14 May 2013 in a bid to renew her term. On 9 May 2016, she was re-elected again for her third and final term.

Wealth

Marcos allegedly owned assets worth US$10 billion. On one occasion, she spent $2,000 on chewing gum at the San Francisco International Airport and, on another, she forced a plane to do a U-turn mid-air just because she forgot to buy cheese in Rome. Her collection of shoes now lies partly in the National Museum of the Philippines and partly 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.

She allegedly owns Swiss bank accounts under the pseudonym "Jane Ryan". Her claimed fortune came from Yamashita's gold, a semi-mythical treasure trove that is widely believed in the Philippines to be part of the Japanese loot in World War II. Her property used to include jewels and a 175-piece art collection, which included works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Canaletto, Raphael, as well as Monet's L'Église et La Seine à Vétheuil (1881), Alfred Sisley's Langland Bay (1887), and Albert Marquet's Le Cyprès de Djenan Sidi Said (1946).

Switzerland's federal tribunal ruled in December 1990 that cash in Swiss banks would only be returned to the Philippine government if a Philippine court convicted her. In March 2008, a judge in Manila in the Philippines acquitted her of 32 counts of illegal transfers of funds to Swiss bank accounts between 1968 and 1976, determining that the government had failed to prove its case. In 2012, she declared her net worth to be US$22 million and she was listed as the second-richest Filipino politician behind boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao.

On 17 October 2013, the attempted sale of two Claude Monet paintings, L'Eglise de Vetheuil and Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas, became the subject of a legal case in New York against Vilma Bautista, a one-time aide to Imelda Marcos. Bautista was sentenced in 2014 to 2–6 years in prison for attempting to sell "valuable masterpieces that belonged to her country". On 13 January 2014, three collections of Imelda Marcos's jewelry: the Malacanang collection, the Roumeliotes collection, and the Hawaii collection; along with paintings by Claude Monet were seized by the Philippine government. In 2015, a rare pink diamond worth $5 million was discovered in her jewelry collection. On 16 February 2016, the government of the Philippines announced that the three collections, valued at about $21 million, were to be auctioned off before the end of Benigno Aquino III's term on 30 June 2016. In October 2015, Imelda Marcos still faced 10 criminal charges of graft and 25 civil cases in the Philippines.

Legacy

Marcos influenced fashion in the Philippines, although her role as a patroness of the arts and fashion is still controversial. The second track of Mark Knopfler's 1996 album Golden Heart is a sardonic song about her. She was the subject of the 2003 documentary film, Imelda. In 2010, British producer Fatboy Slim and musician David Byrne released a concept album about her life called Here Lies Love, which later became a rock musical. In Manila, local performance artist Carlos Celdran performs his Living La Vida Imelda walking tour, which was also performed in Dubai during 2012.. Filipino-American drag artist Manila Luzon impersonated Mrs. Marcos in the "Snatch Game" challenge in the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race.

Foreign honors