Imelda Marcos’ Lifestyle

by MLC | Jan 31, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis

During Ferdinand Marcos’ time as president, his reported salary was never more than $13,500 annually. It should have been given that his family would live with this amount accordingly. However, when you look at Imelda Marcos’ lifestyle alone (not considering the president and the children’s expenses yet) – it does not really figure.

During the years of his rule in the Philippines, Imelda had a lifestyle that was larger than life.  Observing her tastes, purchases, and lifestyle – one can say that she loves beautiful, luxurious, and lavish things. She has accustomed herself to a lifestyle that’s not befitting to a husband who does not make more than $13,500 a year. How is that so?

Let’s start with her infamous love for shoes – a passion she didn’t even bother to conceal. She had over a thousand shoes and are from international luxury brands and local as well. The more expensive shoes were from Dior, Gucci, Givenchy, Ferragamo, and Bally to name a few. She loved her designer footwear a bit too much it made her famous for it.

She also has a penchant for expensive and branded jewelry as well. Imelda owned a Bulgari bracelet valued at about USD 1 million in 1986. And as if that’s not enough, she dropped a whopping USD 200,000 for a Cartier bracelet.

The Philippine government was able to take back 760 pieces of jewelry, the estimated total value is at USD 6 million. Later on, Imelda would even argue that she should have her jewelry back.

Imelda liked to party with an international crowd which of course entailed more spending not just on jewelry but on clothes as well. She spent around USD 200,000 worth of clothes once at Emmanuel Ungaro alone during a shopping spree.

And the end of their ruling era, she collected about 500 pieces of long gowns, 15 mink coats, more than 800 pieces of handbags and let’s not even forget about her infamous collection of shoes.

Her love for beautiful things isn’t limited to clothes, shoes, and jewelry. She was into collecting rare and highly coveted art pieces also. She acquired artworks from Michelangelo, Picasso, Monet, and such.

When they left Malacañang Palace, they took the paintings with them too. Even the masterpieces in their New York home were carted away days after they fled the Philippines.

When the Marcos family left the Philippines in 1986, included in their cargo were 24 gold bricks engraved with “To my husband on our 24th anniversary”. And that’s not all, they had 413 pieces of assorted jewelry with them and 27 million worth of Philippine money. On their exile alone, the value of the money and properties they carried with them amounted to fifteen million US dollars.

Clearly her expenses amounted to more than $13,500 annually. If she wanted it, she bought it –never mind that it’s not within her husband’s income. If she spent more than her late husband’s salary per year (and much, much more than that)? Who paid for that excess? How could she have afforded all of those? Go figure.

Sources:

Nick Davies, “The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions?,” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies, (May 7, 2016).

“Imelda Marcos’s shoe collection gathers mould after years of neglect,” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/23/imelda-marcos-shoe-collection-mould, (September 23, 2012)

How Did the Marcos Family Become Rich?

by MLC | Jan 24, 2018 | Martial Law Analysis

The Marcos’ family wealth is infamous. Its source has been debated for years even though proof has been presented on how they were acquired. How did Marcos acquire his wealth in the first place?  Let’s go back in time and check his beginnings.

Ferdinand Marcos was not really poor to begin with but he showed intelligence early on. He entered the University of the Philippines College of Law and graduated with honors, Cum Laude. He even topped the 1939 Philippine Bar Examinations as well. His score remains one of the highest given to this day.

Marcos didn’t start his political career right away as it was a time when World War 2 happened. His military career is still up for debate and deserves a separate discussion.

Years later, he started he finally started his journey in politics. He served three terms in the House of Representatives for the 2^nd District of Ilocos Norte – this went through the course of 10 years from 1949 to 1959.

After serving his third and final term in the Philippine Congress, he ran for the Senate. He won and became the minority floor leader in 1960 and finally the Senate President from 1963 to 1965.

Marcos finally ran for Presidency and took his oath in 1965. This was the start of his long rule in the Philippines. In 1969, he got reelected again as the President of the Philippines. The country entered the 70s with what they called First Quarter Storm where Marcos claimed the country was in a civil unrest status.

To put things into order according to Marcos, he declared Martial on the 21^st of September, 1972. And Marcos used his proclamation to his advantage. With Martial Law asserted, civil rights and laws were suspended and military rule was in place. Marcos used Martial Law not just to gain power but wealth.

Marcos didn’t want the paperwork trailing back to him so he used his allies, relatives, and forming dummy companies to represent him in his takeovers and investments. He saw potential in the coconut and sugar industries. He assigned his cronies to direct the monopolies in these industries.

They have collected funds from coconut farmers in the 70s and used these funds to purchase stocks in San Miguel Corporation. The funding Marcos stole, was reinvested in several companies for shares.

Marcos even bought real estate through his allies. There were properties acquired and bought under other people’s names. Not only that, the other funds were deposited in Swiss bank accounts.

Marcos and his wife, Imelda also collected art, and not just ordinary art – masterpieces and highly valued work such as a painting from Claude Monet. These artworks were investments themselves as they fetch high prices in the market when sold.

Imelda also invested in jewelry, included branded ones from Bulgari and the total value of the known jewelries that was collected was estimated at 8 million US dollars.

Marcos just didn’t stop at increasing his wealth in bank accounts. He invested in several sectors and properties all throughout his rule. He didn’t put his eggs in one basket and he used his cronies and dummy companies to go around his investments.

Martial Law extended his rule giving him more time and more ways to acquire more. He didn’t stop and his greed became his downfall. Then the People Power Revolution of 1986 happened.

How unfortunate that such intelligence was used to the disadvantage of the Filipino people. Up to this day, the stolen wealth has not been completely retrieved. We have yet to see the day where this stolen wealth will finally find its way home where it belongs – to the Filipino people.

Sources:

Ana Roa, “Regime of Marcoses, cronies, kleptocracy,” http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/641277/regime-of-marcoses-cronies-kleptocracy, (September 29, 2014).

Nick Davies, “The $10bn question: what happened to the Marcos millions?,” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/07/10bn-dollar-question-marcos-millions-nick-davies, (May 7, 2016).