‘Best time I spent with my father’: Marcos Jr. remembers fond memories with dad, honors mom's arts legacy

MANILA, Philippines — His Excellency President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. shared some fond family memories at his speech to mark the 50th anniversary of the Design Center of the Philippines in National Museum of Fine Arts last week.

First, the president thanked the Design Center for giving him the opportunity to come back to the old Senate Session Hall. As he delivered his speech, memories with his dad, the late Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos, came rushing to the younger Marcos’ mind.

“As a matter of fact, I spent many hours in this place, waiting for my father to finish his work, because he was senator then senate president,” Pres. Marcos Jr. recalled. “I sat there (pointing at the back of the hall) and watched all the events that were happening.”

Marcos Jr. could not believe that by the time he returned to the former Senate Session Hall, the once boy onlooker is now the one giving speeches where his father used to deliver his.
“And it’s so nice to be back here, it would form great memory for me, because it was the best time I spent with my father,” Marcos Jr. noted.

His memories with his dad at the session hall walled by the massive Philippine history mural of National Artist for Visual Arts Carlos “Botong” Francisco, would then prepare Marcos Jr. to follow in his dad’s footsteps as a public servant.

“And maybe, without even knowing it, I learned a great deal from the happy experience, from the comings and goings in the upper house of the legislature. So thank you for that!” 

In the same speech, His Excellency asserted that the Design Center’s golden jubilee is “extra special” for him because it is also among the lasting legacies of his mom.

“It was my mother, Imelda Romualdez Marcos, who envisioned a future where design would shine brightly, guiding the path of our nation,” he said.

“In 1973, her vision came to fruition with the establishment of the Design Center, laying the groundwork for Filipino creativity to dazzle in the global scale.”

Marcos Jr. and his wife, First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos, were the first to tour the Design Center’s “Art x Design: A Special Reception of the 50 Years of Philippine Design and Beyond” exhibition, which is on-view in National Museum of Fine Arts for free until April.

Marcos Jr. hopes that the exhibit “would spark inspiration for the upcoming generation of Filipino designers and creatives, encouraging us to elevate our nation’s reputation in the global scale.” — Video by Deni Rose M. Afinidad-Bernardo, video editing by EC Toledo