Palace sends Marcos family stuff to PCGG warehouse

President Arroyo ordered yesterday racks of yellowing barong Tagalog of the late President Ferdinand Marcos and the shoe collection of former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos moved out of Malacañang.

Two military trucks transported the Marcos paraphernalia, which were contained in two container vans, to the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) warehouse in Mandaluyong City.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the personal belongings of the Marcos family were taken out "upon the request" of the PCGG.

"That’s something for the PCGG to decide," he said, when asked if the Marcoses could still get back their belongings.

On the other hand, PCGG Commissioner Victoria Avena said they would "study" what the agency could do with the clothes, shoes and other personal belongings of the Marcos family.

"We will sort them out," she said. "Then, we will know what best could be done (with them)."

At least 24 racks of clothes contained specially tailored suits, barong Tagalog, imported batik polo shirts, elegant evening gowns, ternos and house dusters.

Each rack had a minimum of 20 to 23 to as much as 43 gowns and ternos of Mrs. Marcos, while on one rack hung some 155 pieces of specially tailored barongs of Mr. Marcos.

One rack had 47 pieces of handpainted batik polo shirts of Mr. Marcos and another contained his pants which bore the tags "Exclusively tailored for Pres. F.E. Marcos" with some indicating a 31" waistline.

Done by famous Filipino couturiers like Pitoy Moreno and Joe Salazar, the Marcos suits and gowns, along with the famous shoes were placed in a stockroom after curators of the Malacañang Museum decided to put up an exhibit of personal memorabilia of the country’s past 13 presidents, starting from Emilio Aguinaldo.

The Marcoses were forced to leave their personal belongings in Malacañang at the height of the people power uprising on February 25, 1986 when they were taken to Clark Air Base aboard a US Air Force helicopter and later on a US military aircraft to exile in Honolulu, Hawaii.

After President Corazon Aquino took over the government, the shoe collection of Mrs. Marcos was placed on display in their former living quarters in Malacañang, which was converted into a museum.–Marichu Villanueva, Sheila Crisostomo