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Posted on 10/05/2005 8:09:29 PM PDT by Stoat
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The widow of Ferdinand Marcos told Sky News' Asia Correspondent Dominic Waghorn her wealth was honestly earned and her belongings cannot legally be sold.
It was her first interview since the Philippine government announced the sell-off.
She told Waghorn: "It's not true that this is still stolen money, that it is ill gotten, that it's taken from corruption or taken from the people, which is the most terrible thing, and it is not."
The Philippine government seized jewellery worth millions when the Marcoses were overthrown in a 'people power' revolution in 1986.
Some was found in their palace after it was stormed by angry crowds; other pieces in their luggage, when they fled to Hawaii.
Authorities in Manila want the collection sold to the highest bidder hoping to raise £6m for land reform to help the poor. "There is now worldwide interest in the jewellery collection," said Ricardo Abcede, the Philippine official in charge of the sale. "If this worldwide interest could translate into a high value for these jewel collections then we should seize this opportunity," he added. In her Manila mansion, surrounded by mementos of the Marcos years and a new shoe collection numbering hundreds of pairs, Mrs Marcos said she will fight the plan in the courts and claimed to have the Philippine people behind her. "Practically everyone in the streets says these are beautiful things and says why do they want to take them away for money," she said. "Filipinos will take beauty before money. We are not a materialistic people." |
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The chunky skank still breathes?
I like her style.
I thought she was married to George Hamilton?
I would imagine that the security precautions surrounding her leviathan carcass would cause the most advanced and experienced counterterrorism pros to be fully awestruck and breathtakingly impressed. Being able to put "I designed Imelda Marcos' security apparatus" on your resume would likely be a ticket to most anywhere..
I read once that the Philippine government opened a 'museum' on the Marcos regime, including examples of their numerous crimes against the people. One area is devoted entirely to her shoes, which are all on display. Due to the humidity of the country, the leather of the shoes is in danger of falling apart if they are not polished and maintained. To that end, they have employed there one man whose exclusive job is to just polish her shoes all day long, day after day. When he gets to the end of the 'collection' he starts again, doing nothing but polishing her shoes all day.
I'm hoping that this person is a really bad criminal of some sort and this is his punishment, but I vaguely recall a short interview with him where he said that he enjoyed the job because by keeping her shoes in good shape, he is maintaining the memory of the Marcos' innumerable excesses and by doing so hopefully his country will be spared such evil in the future.
Could that be the "Queen of Mean," Leona Helmsly? Whatever happened to her?
It is not as simple as right vs. left as you portray it - Commies are bad, dictators are bad.
There is still endemic corruption at all levels of politics and to a lesser extent in business... everyone skims, no one reports their real income on their income taxes, and the Customs folks are probably the most corrupt of all. Some of this corruption should be blamed on Marcos' corrupt influence.
And further, the VFA (visiting forces agreement) came apart under Erap, a Clinton clone, not under Aquino.
Aside: my wife, from the Philippines, was able to make friends with Jesi Mendez, the top hairstylist in the Phils. When she got married, he came to her hotel room and made her up personally. When Aimee Marcos travels, she pays his day rate and all expenses and takes him with her, along with her entourage of 20+ .
"I have never seen stones like this in my life and I am 47 years old, " said Grace Tan, who works for the government commission trying to recover the $5bn the Marcoses are alleged to have siphoned off from the Philippines.
"I have seen blue diamonds, yellow diamonds, pink diamonds, different sizes, different shapes, rubies, sapphires... really, really big - as in big!" she said.
Highlights include a Persian-style necklace with more than 100 carats of canary and pink diamonds, and a diamond-studded bracelet with a 31-carat marquise as the centre-stone.
snip
The Philippines, where a third of its 80 million-strong population lives on a couple of dollars a day
snip
Gems the size of golf balls and suitcases full of pearls were seized by US and Philippine customs officers when the Marcoses fled Manila for Hawaii 17 years ago.
One collection of around 60 pieces was taken from Demetriou Roumeliotes, a Greek friend of the former First Lady, as he tried to leave the country.
At first, customs officers left the jewellery laying about on desks because they did not believe it was real, Ms Tan said.
A second collection of 400 pieces was seized by US Customs in Honolulu.
A third collection, the Malacanang, was left behind in the presidential palace and is still under litigation, but the government hopes the case will be settled in time for the auction.
"Filipinos don't wallow in what is miserable and ugly. They recycle the bad into things of beauty," she said.
During her time as first lady, Mrs Marcos was famed for travelling the world to buy new shoes at a time when millions of Filipinos were living in extreme poverty.
******
Imelda Romualdez Marcos (born July 2, 1929 in Tacloban City) is the former First Lady and a political figure in the Philippines. She is known as the "Steel Butterfly" of the Philippines.
Imelda Romualdez spent her early life as a beauty queen, and in 1950 was voted "Muse of Manila." Her beauty caught the eye of politician Ferdinand Marcos, and the two married in 1954 after a well-publicized 11-day romance.
Imelda Marcos had a very large collection of shoes and lingerie. She reportedly owned 3,000 pairs of shoes (size 81⁄2), which were found by the opposition forces after the Marcos regime was overthrown in 1986. Most were worn only once or not at all. The collection included a pair of plastic disco sandals with three inch high flashing battery-operated heels, 500 (size 38) brassieres, 200 (size 42) girdles, and a bulletproof bra. The shoes became a symbol of her life of luxury amid the poverty of most Filipinos. As recently as February, 2003, Marcos was seen in Italy buying diamonds.
Imelda Marcos has 3 children---Ferdinand Jr. (aka "Bongbong"), Imee, and Irene.
Doesn't the fight for survival also justify swindle and theft? In self defence, anything goes.
Imelda Marcos
I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.
Imelda Marcos
If you know how rich you are, you are not rich. But me, I am not aware of the extent of my wealth. That's how rich we are.
Imelda Marcos
It's the rich you can terrorize. The poor have nothing to lose.
Imelda Marcos
Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars.
Imelda Marcos
They call me corrupt, frivolous. I am not at all privileged. Maybe the only privileged thing is my face. And corrupt? God! I would not look like this if I am corrupt. Some ugliness would settle down on my system.
Imelda Marcos
We practically own everything in the Philippines.
Imelda Marcos
Win or lose, we go shopping after the election.
Imelda Marcos
Imelda’s famous 30.76 ct. diamond bangle bracelet from Bulgari, NY, with a price tag still on it of one Million U.S. Dollars.
Imelda’s emerald and diamond earrings.The emeralds ( 3 cts. ea.) in these earrings from Van Cleef & Arpels were of such a rare clarity, color and quality that two appraisers from Christie’s could not set a value with out further research. Diamonds droplets 3cts. each.
Estimated at approximately just over 100 carats of yellow (canary) and pinkish diamonds of various shapes, sizes and cuts.
Diamond necklace by Italian designer Buccellati, 93 cts diamonds. Center diamond above US coin is 15 cts.
Imelda’s diamond choker with 15, 5 cts.each Colombian emeralds, 75 total cts. emeralds, and 50 cts total diamonds set in platinum.
Imelda’s Ruby and Diamond bracelet with ten 5 cts. pigeon blood red rubies surrounded by smaller rubies and diamonds in yellow gold. 1.5 inches wide X 8” long
Former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos holds the pair of shoes she wore when she and her husband fled the country in 1986. PHOTO: REUTERS
Sep 13, 2005
The government says the gems are being held in the vaults of the central bank. Imelda Marcos says that when the government took them 19 years ago, they were in "32 to 34" Louis Vuitton cases.
Marcos is also pressing the government to allow the burial of her husband's remains in the country's National Heroes Cemetery in the capital, and said supporters had gathered a million signatures in favor of the plan.
After his death in 1989 Ferdinand Marcos's body was preserved and kept in an air-conditioned glass case at the family home in the northern town of Batac. The government had refused to allow a burial at the Manila cemetery.
His widow said supporters plan to present the signatures to Arroyo.
That's quite a brow lift.Ouch!
Great posts all, and tremendous information. Thank you! An unpleasant but very necessary flashback to a dark era of history.
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VIDEO: Fight For Gems