Imelda Marcos Case

Every time I hear "Marcos", it always reminds me of, next to Ferdinand, his beloved wife, Imelda Marcos. Imelda was undeniably a one big controversial figure that surprisingly emerged in our country for being the former first lady of the late president Ferdinand Marcos.

As a very active first lady way back during the Marcos regime, her extravagance was really of that in the highest degree. It was actually too obvious to be not able notice it. Imagine having 1060 pairs of shoes, 888 handbags, and 508 gowns! If she was after the Filipino poor, then why did she spend a lot of money for her own luxuries if she can just give it to them for their own benefit? Say that she already gave a part to the poor, but did that part she had given was already enough to save the Filipinos from the pangs of poverty? I think she's thinking too much for beauty when she can sacrifice that for the people's sake.

Frankly speaking, I'm not impressed with her. I don't really know what impact she has to me but I'm certain that, that impact was not good. She's living in an ostentatiously extravagant life, very contrary to the Filipinos suffering from poverty. Yes, she had done so many things together with his husband, like the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theatre, Philippine Heart Center, and so on, but did these high-profile infrastructures able to alleviate poverty when in fact these multi-million worth edifices are beyond the ordinary Filipinos' reach? And yes, they initiated certain programs on family planning, Green Revolution, etc., but all of these were just short-lived.

Imelda is really the exact opposite of what I look up to. She is so concerned with how she looks and is very conscious of herself. I have read a quote of her saying, "never dress down for the poor, they won't respect you for it, they want their First Lady to look like a million dollars..." Look like million dollars? Is she aware of what truly the people think? Can you stand seeing the destitute lying coldly on the streets, having nothing to eat with ripped and dirty clothes while you, yourself, are shining like a diamond worth billions of dollars? Is that what you call service? I believe we can't get ourselves out of poverty by just seeing the first lady shining like gold and diamond. It can't make us happy though. It can't even feed our hungry stomachs.

If only all her luxuries were turn into food, clothes and houses, not for her but for the poor, then that would be the moment I have admired her. That is the real service. If she was able to afford such extravagance, then where did she get her wealth? That was really a question that can't just be answered right away. I think it was stolen from the Filipino pockets. No wonder why she is called a professional thief, corrupting everything for her own sake. In simple words, she is so self-centered, egoistic and narrow-minded.