Imelda

Delwin Rose Villarey
2010-79267

My mother works at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), one of the institutions that Imelda Marcos helped establish during Ferdinand Marcos's regime. I have personal behind-the-scenes experiences about how it was managed after the Marcoses vacated Malacanang. Artists and the public help CCP to continue to flourish through its own means at promoting Philippine arts and culture, as well as inviting other nations to share their culture with us. Overall, I think that out of all the public institutions we have, it is one of the most prestigious and also one of the government's least financially-supported institutions. Somehow, public officials think that it is not in need of support. I think it is a shame that people's negative opinion of the Marcoses makes them see the things connected to their legacy in bad light. It is a shame that art and culture takes a backseat because of politics.

About the documentary, I think it was one that presents us with a gross framing fallacy. Through its juxtaposition of Imelda's luxury and the Filipino class-E poverty, it is subtly condemning Imelda Marcos not only as the wife of a fallen dictator but also as a rich Filipina.

The thing is, Imelda Marcos is "easy" to judge. She is conceited, self-possessed, lacks judgment, etc. That's what I gleaned about her personality after watching the documentary. But it was framed that way. Her love for the true, the good, and the beautiful was exaggerated until it looked absurd and comical. The documentary even had interviews from people who supposedly know her, talking about how bad her egotistic rationale for everything she did was. Heck, there was even a Jesuit priest in the interview who explicitly condemned her by telling the audience that "Imelda can't handle the truth." But who the heck was he, Imelda's confessor? Or was he one of those priests who joined the Communist party? The documentary did not substantiate that.

Imelda, for all her faults as a person and as a wife, is still human. Human beings have a desire for appropriation. We all have an acquisitive nature. The problem with Imelda is, she cultivated that desire to the extremes. Rather than taking Imelda as a Marcos crony who has a lot of shoes and hand-woven dresses, I saw how hard it was for her not to be corrupted, how hard it was for her to lose Ferdinand. It was painful for me to watch her sing a kundiman next to her husband's emaciated body.

She is a tragic figure, a woman who had everything and lost everything. Imelda is over 80. Is it too much to ask if I forgive her?