BICOL UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND PHILOSOPHY

REFLECTIVE ANALYSES ON
IMELDA/MAYNILA

Submitted by:

Aculan, Omar L.
AB Political Science – 1B
Reflection on IMELDA/MAYNILA:

Isang Panimulang Pagtingin sa Pag-iiba ng Landscape at Kapangyarihan ayon Kay Unang

By Professor Michael Xiao B. Chua

Among all the reading materials handed to us to provide reflective analyses on, the two
articles about former first lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos are my personal cup of tea. From the
documentaries regarding the thirteen years of military rule by her dictator husband, only little is
told about the tale of “the Other President.” I have grown fondness over the person whose name
became part of the dictionary, whilst she is very much alive and kicking. This preference over
Imelda is not due to the appreciation of her beauty, elegance, or wit (although the latter is up for
debate), but is rooted on the thought that an individual is capable of holding enormous amount of
power on a single hand. This paper provided me with a deeper understanding of her life as a simple
woman with big dreams, whose background played a huge role in her re-imagining of the city of
Manila—the realization of her life-long fantasies.

If one were to harken back at her earliest memories, he would deduce that Imelda’s
upbringing was far from perfect. At a young age, she was exposed to the harsh reality that life was
not like lying on a bed of roses. The experiences she had with her half-siblings made her eager to
pursue a new and different life in the future. Imelda, in hopes of forgetting the dark past she
endured as a child, did everything she could to change the course of her destiny. She found Manila
as the actualization of her dreams, her own version of an “American Dream.” She was the
embodiment of a typical probinsyano and probinsyana, a first-timer in an urban and fast-paced city,
who saw everything with a pair of twinkling eyes. As a young lady, Imelda was blessed with the
physical attributes everyone else wished for. She saw this as her advantage to become widely-
known among Manilenos. Gradually, she rose to the top until all the seasoned gentlemen wanted to
win her over. However, only one man emerged victorious—the overly ambitious congressman
Ferdinand Edralin-Marcos. Her life changed after marrying the legislator from Ilocos. She now
became part of the higher social stratum, which she dreamt of as a child. For an average person,
everything she had would be enough. However, that was not the case with the Muse of Manila. Once
she got something she wanted, she craved for more. Perhaps, this was her way to seek revenge
from her “wicked” parental half-siblings—a classic theme in Philippine soap operas and prime time
telenovelas. And when she felt that she was outgrowing the city where she lived, she ambitioned to
re-create Manila through her own lenses.

Because Imelda believed that a city is the heart of all political, economic, and socio-cultural
aspirations, she saw it appropriate to give Manila a new dress from her own luxurious boudoir. To
do this, Imelda had to overhaul the landscape of Manila and produce a large scale of terra firma that
would shelter its skyrocketing population. Personally, I find her concept problematic. To begin
with, she is in no way a professional in this field to conceive such ambitious plan. Secondly, she is
subconsciously telling that in order for one to prosper in life, he must forsake his nativity and
venture into the city just like what she did when she was younger. This is the best explanation as to
why Manila is heavily and densely populated as of the moment. Our fellow countrymen believe that
endless opportunities await you once you step out into the suburbs, however, this is the painful
truth: it is arduous to look for a job because of the thousands other Filipinos who share the same
dream as yours. People compete to avail the basic commodities, while the privileged elite continue
to capitalize the market and the workforce. Many of those who left their provinces in hopes of
finding an occupation in the city end up working subcontractual jobs or worse, wind up
unemployed.

Nevertheless, “if there’s a will, there’s a way”. These precedented problems did not shake
her ego, it only motivated her to think of the unthinkable and do the unimagined. Whenever she felt
that her influence was weakening and her role was overshadowed, she did everything to prove her
worth. To address the issue with population density and informal settlements, she launched
massive land reclamation projects, which ultimately changed Manila’s geography. She built houses
to relocate the marginalized and the informal settlers. Imelda believed in the principle of
humanism, emphasizing the need for a place, where one would live “happily, fully, and with
dignity.” This became her justification to reclaim massive amount of space and construct thousands
of houses, because by doing so she believed she provided what her constituents needed. This
constant reassurance made herself and her supporters think that she did this for the people and not
to satisfy her obsession with buildings, glamour, and extravagance. We can clearly observe the
horrifying vision Imelda set for herself. She wanted to conquer the world. She desired everything
that set her eyes. The dream she conceived for Manila was the same fantasy she wanted to actualize
in the country, and even in the whole world.

To understand her edifice complex and obsession for ostentatious things, one must look
into Imelda’s view of herself. As the first lady of the country, she saw the need to impress the public
and embody a role which demands respect, but exudes care and affection. She resorted to beauty,
which to her was a tangible representation of love. And so she pampered herself sumptuously,
dressed herself lavishly, and presented herself grandiosely. To her, this was the picture-perfect
depiction of a loving Mother of the Nation, who cared for her children, the Filipino people. But in
reality, this was her means of imposing influence to the people. By translating power and glory into
a tactile, visual language everybody understood, she would consequently leave a lasting impression
of herself that will make the nation forget the atrocities of the conjugal leadership during the
martial law regime. For if she is indeed the “mother of all”, why is she still distant from reality? She
could have done a lot to alleviate the poverty in our country. Her billion net worths and assets could
have fed the hungry mouths of the Filipinos and she could have contributed to the growth of the
most vulnerable sector in our country. Instead, she resorted to these superficial projects she
claimed to be inclusive of the poor, yet were means of satisfying her extreme fascination and
obsession with opulence. Imelda would rather visit the slums wearing her most stylish and up-to-
date wardrobe and hand out a few peso bills, calling it motherly love and compassion. This is a slap
on the face to the marginalized, because the same person who amassed billions of money from
them years ago has returned to give them cash in petty amounts. Her sense of compassion and
affection is preposterous and nonsensical. This has led me to believe that Imelda Marcos is slowly
paying back the monstrosity her family committed by living in an illusioned world far distant from
our own. It is very evident in the interviews done by the author how she may be physically present,
but mentally and emotionally nonexistent.

Although it can be deduced that Imelda was dedicated and determined to carry out projects
for the benefit of all, her work ethics was highly affected by her fixation with aesthetic value. The
infrastuctures she built were only pleasing to the eyes and never served its true purpose. Her
incompetency and lack of concrete programs are manifested through band-aid solutions, which
were only good for a short period of time. She enjoyed good amount of publicity through her works,
which only shows that her heart remains with her purse and not with the people. Imelda Marcos
is .the best representation of how greed and power can drive someone out of his or her mind. There
is nothing wrong with having dreams and ambitions. As what the famous quote suggests, “The sky
is the limit.” However, one must not forget to remain grounded and not use his privilege to do bad.
Let this be a wake up call for all of us not to do the same mistake she committed.