Imelda Marcos

In this Philippine name for married women, the birth middle name or maternal family name is Trinidad, the birth surname or paternal family name is Romualdez, and the marital name is Marcos.
Imelda Marcos
Marcos in 2008
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives
In office
June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2019
Preceded byBongbong Marcos
Succeeded byEugenio Angelo Barba
Constituency2nd District of Ilocos Norte
In office
June 30, 1995 – June 30, 1998
Preceded byCirilo Roy Montejo
Succeeded byAlfred Romualdez
Constituency1st District of Leyte
Member of Parliament for Region IV (Metro Manila)
In office
June 12, 1978 – June 5, 1984
Governor of Metro Manila
In office
February 27, 1975 – February 25, 1986
Appointed byFerdinand Marcos
Vice GovernorMel Mathay (1979–1986)
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJoey Lina (OIC)
Minister of Human Settlements
In office
June 12, 1978 – February 25, 1986
PresidentFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byOffice abolished
First Lady of the Philippines
In role
December 30, 1965 – February 25, 1986
PresidentFerdinand Marcos
Preceded byEva Macapagal
Succeeded byVacant (1986–1992) [a]
Personal details
Born
Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez[1]

(1929-07-02) July 2, 1929 (age 95)
San Miguel, Manila, Philippines[b]
Political partyNacionalista (1965–1978; 2009–present)
Other political
affiliations		Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (1978–2015)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1954; died 1989)​
ChildrenImee Marcos
Bongbong Marcos
Irene Marcos
Aimee Marcos (adopted)
Criminal statusReleased on bail pending appeal[3]
Conviction(s)7 counts of Graft under the Section 3(h) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act[2]
Criminal penalty6 years and 1 month–11 years of imprisonment
Suspension from holding public office
Residence(s)Makati, Metro Manila
This article is part of a series
about
Ferdinand Marcos

Presidency

First term
Second term
Martial law
Third and fourth terms

Family

Unexplained wealth

Legacy

Related


President of the Philippines

Imelda Romualdez Marcos[4] (locally [ɪˈmelda ɾoˈmwɐldɛs ˈmaɾkɔs]; born Imelda Remedios Visitación Trinidad Romuáldez; July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician[5] and convicted criminal[6] who was First Lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, wielding significant political power after her husband Ferdinand Marcos placed the country under martial law in September 1972.[7][8][9] She is the mother of current president Bongbong Marcos.[10]

During her husband's 21-year rule, Imelda Marcos ordered the construction of many grandiose architectural projects, using public funds and "in impossibly short order"[11] – a propaganda practice,[12][13] which eventually came to be known as her "edifice complex".[11][14] She and her husband stole billions of pesos[15][16] from the Filipino people,[17][18][19] amassing a personal fortune estimated to have been worth US$5 billion to US$10 billion by the time they were deposed in 1986;[20][21][22] by 2018, about $3.6 billion of this had been recovered by the Philippine government,[23][24] either through compromise deals or sequestration cases.[18][25]

Marcos and her family gained notoriety for living a lavish lifestyle during a period of economic crisis and civil unrest in the country.[9] She spent much of her time abroad on state visits, extravagant parties, and shopping sprees, and spent much of the State's money on her personal art, jewelry and shoe collections – amassing 3,000 pairs of shoes.[26][27][28] The subject of dozens[29] of court cases around the world,[23] she was eventually convicted of corruption charges in 2018 for her activities during her term as governor of Metro Manila; the case is under appeal.[5][6] She and her husband hold the Guinness World Record for the "Greatest Robbery of a Government",[30][31][32] putting Suharto of neighboring Indonesia at second.

The People Power Revolution in February 1986 unseated the Marcoses and forced the family into exile in Hawaii.[33] In 1991, President Corazon Aquino allowed the Marcos family to return to the Philippines to face various charges after the 1989 death of Ferdinand.[34][35] Imelda Marcos was elected four times to the House of Representatives of the Philippines,[36] and ran twice for the presidency of the Philippines but failed to garner enough votes.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Pedrosa 1987, pp. 16–17.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference CNN20181110 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Imelda Marcos posts bail for graft conviction in Philippines". NBC News. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
  4. ^ Lalu, John Gabriel (November 9, 2018). "FULL TEXT: Sandigan ruling on 10 graft cases vs Imelda Marcos". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2018. Retrieved March 12, 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Imelda Marcos convicted of graft, sentenced to prison". NBC News. Associated Press. November 9, 2018. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Gutierrez, Jason (November 9, 2018). "Imelda Marcos Is Sentenced to Decades in Prison for Corruption". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 9, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Sicat2014 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Bonner, Raymond (1987). Waltzing with a dictator : the Marcoses and the making of American policy (1st ed.). New York: Times Books. ISBN 0-8129-1326-4. OCLC 15016107. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Tully, Shawn (January 9, 2014). "My afternoon with Imelda Marcos". Fortune. Archived from the original on October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
  10. ^ "The Woman Behind the Man". Martial Law Chronicles Project. April 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 1, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2018.
  11. ^ a b "The Powerful Imelda Marcos". The Washington Post. January 18, 1981. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  12. ^ Rybczynski, Witold (October 19, 2005). "The political uses of public buildings". Slate Magazine. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved October 4, 2020.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference CCPLicoEdifice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ de Villa, Kathleen (September 16, 2017). "Imelda Marcos and her 'edifice complex'". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  15. ^ Bueza, Michael (February 28, 2016). "At 30: PCGG by the numbers". Rappler. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fischer2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Manapat, Ricardo (1991) Some Are Smarter than Others: The History of Marcos' Crony Capitalism. Ateneo de Manila University Press.
  18. ^ a b Through the Years, PCGG at 30: Recovering Integrity –A Milestone Report (PDF). Manila: Republic of the Philippines Presidential Commission on Good Government. 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  19. ^ Warf, Barney (2018). Handbook on the Geographies of Corruption. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 335. ISBN 9781786434746.
  20. ^ "FALSE: 'No proof' that Marcos couple stole billions from Filipinos". Rappler. November 15, 2018. Archived from the original on October 6, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  21. ^ Tiongson-Mayrina, Karen (September 21, 2017). "The Supreme Court's rulings on the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth". GMA News Online. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved August 25, 2020.
  22. ^ Gerth, Jeff (March 16, 1986). "The Marcos Empire: Gold, Oil, Land and Cash". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  23. ^ a b Viray, Patricia Lourdes. "Money Trail: The Marcos Billions". The Philippine Star. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2020.
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lustre2016RapplerAfter30YearsWhat was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Chiu, Patricia Denise M. (December 20, 2019). "Imelda asked to yield 896 'ill-gotten' artworks". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
  27. ^ Ellison 1988, pp. 1–10.
  28. ^ Tantuco, Vernise L (September 21, 2018). "3,000 pairs: The mixed legacy of Imelda Marcos' shoes". Rappler. Archived from the original on November 11, 2018. Retrieved November 11, 2018.
  29. ^ "What's the latest on cases vs Imelda Marcos, family?". Rappler. October 25, 2019. Archived from the original on April 20, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  30. ^ "Greatest robbery of a Government". Guinness World Records. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  31. ^ Drogin, Bob (November 4, 1991). "Imelda Marcos Weeps on Return to Philippines". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  32. ^ The Guinness Book of World Records 1989. Bantam. March 1989. p. 400. ISBN 978-0-553-27926-9.
  33. ^ Duet for EDSA: Chronology of a Revolution. Manila, Philippines: Foundation for Worldwide People Power. 1995. ISBN 978-9719167006. OCLC 45376088.
  34. ^ Dent, Sydney (November 23, 2012). "A dynasty on steroids". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on May 6, 2022. Retrieved September 1, 2018.
  35. ^ Mydans, Seth (November 4, 1991). "Imelda Marcos Returns to Philippines". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 12, 2009. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  36. ^ Casauay, Angela (May 23, 2013). "Pacquiao, Imelda Marcos wealthiest House members". Rappler. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2018.