Return of an exile

LONDON – I cannot visit London without remembering that this had once been a place of exile me for my family and me. Every street and building of this city reminds me of a tragic and sad episode of my life. I had planned to write a sequel to the Untold Story of Imelda Marcos that would tell the story of the attempted suppression of that book and our exile. I hesitated, mindful of the pain of recalling those years. All I was willing to say, especially when it came to its personal aspects was, it is over – we coped. Good things as well as bad things happened to us. But more recently I have changed my mind about putting that story behind. I am convinced more than ever Marcos may be gone but the effects of that rule lingers. It ought not just to be recalled but recalled again and again until it is understood in its proper perspective.

That is what is wrong with the Ramona Diaz’s documentary on Imelda. It attempts to be neutral and objective about Imelda and consequently becomes a disservice to Filipinos. No matter if it is technically a well-don film. Why should we be neutral about Imelda when she was a partner in the unlamented Marcos regime? She was at the center of it and at the time of Ninoy’s assassination the crowned successor of her ailing husband. Nor is objectivity (interpreted as without taking sides) desirable or even possible to be intellectually honest. Objectivity is not an option for such grim task. I am not surprised that the producer should be less than forthright about the Marcos family’s cooperation in the making of the film and the purpose of that film. She wanted to have her cake and eat it too – have their cooperation at the same time that she hopes viewers will see Imelda and the Marcos regime in a different light.

There is something fundamentally wrong about a film that fudges on the role that ‘Imelda’ played in the Marcos regime in the guise of neutrality. Indeed those who were close enough to both Imelda and Marcos will tell you that she was a big reason for its failure’ in fact some would say a bigger part than is generally known. Three former aides who have had a falling out say that the former dictator himself blamed Imelda for the disgraceful exit from Malacañang in 1986 and said ‘It is all your fault’ Imelda. They were aghast when she added the words "because I loved you so" in later interviews. Neutrality is hardly what Filipinos need at this critical juncture of our political history. Nor is it being helpful to generations to come. What we need is a brutal and blunt statement of the Marcos period. Its extravagance and profligacy using public money for private ends made it to Guinness Book of World Records. And what about Imelda – she shopped as if there was no tomorrow. Fine, if the money was gained through lawful means given that her husband had dictatorial powers. The New York trial may have acquitted her but it revealed her legendary shopping using public money in great detail. Although the world became one huge place shopping mall to her, London was a favorite place, along with New York where she bought a townhouse, buildings and an apartment. She liked London so much she bought a penthouse here just before the declaration of martial law and when confronted by media blamed me for giving the story to newspapers. The inference was the Penthouse story should not be believed because it comes from a partial source. In fact, documents will show the penthouse in Kensington was bought using the name of Benjamin Trinidad, Trinidad being her mother’s surname and Benjamin’ Kokoy’s full name. By then I was in London because the Lopezes wanted us out of the way when the Marcoses began giving their enterprises a tough time.

Once in a while she shopped in London with her retinue of Blue Ladies and other hangers-on, I happened to be in Harrods waiting for my husband at one of its exits. Two Filipinos, whom I was told later were her aides, spotted me. They thought I had come to spy on her and one even dared to ask me what I was doing there as if I had trespassed on their territory. Waiting for my husband, what else, I said. For the next thirty to forty minutes the two aides circled around me, then went up and down the escalator. More wealthily dressed Filipinos came down. One of them said our car was blocking the street and may have to be towed away. The department store’s doors were about to close and I began to panic. In my handbag was a little card with the telephone of police detailed to watch over ‘controversial’ exiles. He had come to the house earlier to give us lessons in being careful at all times – watching for anyone tailing us, never sitting with our backs to the door and avoiding deserted places. I was advised to use that card only in an absolute emergency. Thankfully my husband arrived. Later I learned Imelda was shopping at the time. There have been other versions of this episode including one which said that Harrods was closed so she could shop in privacy. Imelda must have relished such stories because it gave her attention in the Western press. It also fudges the truth.

The Diaz film Imelda is a provocation. It needs to be answered so Imelda’s abuse and profligacy is remembered, not camouflaged by an alleged ‘complexity’ of character. The Marcos regime is the template for corrupt government officials who enrich themselves and get way with it.

Migrants are exiles for their own reasons, whether political or economic. I might have had a more dramatic reason but it is also what made me know more about overseas Filipinos, how they lived from day to day. I was heartened to read in the newspapers that "India looks to brain gains as new affluence draws migrants back in their thousands". One day, it will also happen to Filipinos overseas. Like the Indians, Filipinos today think going abroad as an opportunity to rise up the social and economic ladder. "An entire generation of Indians saw the West as the land of opportunity. They left their homeland in their thousands and became successful businessmen and professionals. That is now changing thanks to India’s booming economy and promises of an affluent lifestyle. A growing number of Indians living in America and Britain are looking back to their roots. Having amassed professional experience and savings from their years in the West they can afford a luxuriously lifestyle when they return to their cultural roots.

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