No party for Imelda this time and more untold stories

At first, like most people, I was skeptical. Once close friends and loyal followers Cherry Cobar-rubias, Rita Gaddi, Anthony Violago and Nonoy Escolin were just sourgraping after Imelda Marcos, having received P2 billion in a quit-claim settlement with PLDT decided she had no longer any use for them. What to do? As far as Imelda was concerned, junk them unceremoniously. But for the past few months I have been talking to the four and I am afraid to inform Imelda Marcos that what the four have so far revealed to me is not just sourgraping. The information they have holds the key to some of the gaps in Imelda’s story, most of them in post-Marcos era.

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Ever since the publication of the "Untold Story of Imelda Marcos" in the 70s, I was always on the verge of writing a sequel, what happened after the book came out, the attempted suppression and my family’s subsequent exile to London. But I realized that the story I would write based on this theme was not about her but about me, therefore it would not be a sequel but altogether a different book. My family and I may have suffered for my decision to write the Untold Story of Imelda Marcos but it would not be accurately the sequel.

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After the trial in New York, I realized the enormous amount of information that came out of the proceedings needed to reach the Filipino public and once again, I thought of a sequel based on the court trial. I would have needed her cooperation and told her so but with the proviso that she would have to be faithful to the truth. If that were possible. I was convinced that this was a far more important story. It would provide the context of the plunder that took place then which would be more important as far as future historians were concerned. Time and again, before the PLDT settlement she had said that there were cronies who ran away with the Marcos wealth, ill gotten that may be. Indeed, there was a time when she said she would run after them. Then there is the Imee list. The story of the conflict between Imelda and Marcos cronies would enormously help political reforms that we envision. The cronies are still around. This part of the story would give flesh and blood to Ric Manapat’s classic, Some are Smarter than Others. But I junked that project when Imelda refused to cooperate.

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Then out of the blue came the break between Imelda and the Cherry Cobarrubias group and their book project. They have asked my help. Their stories can be made the proper sequel to the Untold Story of Imelda Marcos. It is an explosive story provided it is properly handled. That’s where I am now as far as the Marcos saga, a crucial period in our history, is concerned. The Imelda story is central to it. By the way, if Imelda did not host a party this year, it may well be because there is no one she could use to provide the money to pay the bill. She may be very wealthy but she is not interested in using her own money. Why, indeed? She had been so used to the Marcos years when she did not use her own money – money and favors came as "Erap" put it "without my even asking". The bill for Imelda’s 70th birthday bash was footed by Anthony Violago, a disenchanted Imelda loyalist and part of the group’s book project.

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Tribute to Cecile. Hundreds of friends and admirers of Cecile Guidote Alvarex crowded the Fr. Reuter Theater at St.Paul’s College to pay tribute to this tenacious friend of mine from martial law days in a program aptly called ‘KAPATID.’ She deserves all the praises for what she has done for Philippine national theater which gives her a secure place in Philippine history. But what came to mind that evening was my own experience of her character. The Cecile I knew was a person with a penchant for drama even theatrics, I sometimes had to bring her down to earth in the things we did together for the Ninoy Aquino Movement International, of which my husband and I were the representatives in Europe. On the other line of many intercontinental phone calls she made between New York and London, she did not say hello, she said "KAPATID" like some kind of emotional code. So the tribute aptly describes what Cecile was to her many friends and that includes me. A "KAPATID". What stands out in my memory was Cecile’s dedication to the Ninoy Aquino Movement. I sometimes teased her that she was outdoing the Aquinos (to their distress) in keeping Ninoy’s memorry alive but she would not hear anything of it.

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I think she thought herself a superwoman. She arrived in Brussels one evening when my husband, Alberto A. Pedrosa, was ambassador to Belgium, EU and Luxembourg with her pack of deaf, dumb and blind performers sans visas or hotel accommodations. For anyone else it would have been a nightmare not to be attempted. But there she was, turning up with no regard for the conventions of travel in one of the most expensive cities in the world. In the end, Bert was able to intercede to Belgian authorities to allow entry for the blind, deaf and dumb group headed by the indomitable Cecile. A generous priest offered sleeping quarters and food provided by the Embassy. See what I mean about Cecile.

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