Imelda Romualdez Marcos: Robbery of A Government

Imelda Romualdez Marcos[4]
(born Imelda Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is

a Filipino politician and convicted criminal who was First Lady of the Philippines for 21 years,[5] during
which she and her husband stole billions[6][7]:176 from the Filipino people,[8][9][10] amassing a personal
fortune estimated to have been worth US$5 billion to 10 billion by the time they were deposed in
1986.[11][12][13] By 2018, about $3.6 billion of this had been recovered by the Philippine government,[14]
[15]
either through compromise deals or sequestration cases.[9][16]
She married Ferdinand Marcos in 1954 and became First Lady in 1965 when he became President
of the Philippines.[17] She ordered the construction of many grandiose architectural projects, using
public funds and "in impossibly short order"[18] – a propaganda practice,[19][20] which eventually came to
be known as her "edifice complex."[18][21]
The People Power Revolution in February 1986 unseated the Marcoses and forced the family into
exile in Hawaii.[22] In 1991, President Corazon Aquino allowed the Marcos family to return to the
Philippines after the 1989 death of Ferdinand Marcos.[23][24] Imelda Marcos was elected four times to
the House of Representatives of the Philippines,[25] and ran twice for the presidency of the Philippines
but failed to garner enough votes.
She and her family gained notoriety for living a lavish lifestyle during a period of economic crisis and
civil unrest in the country.[26] She spent much of her time abroad on state visits, extravagant parties,
and shopping sprees, and spent much of the State's money on her personal art, jewelry and shoe
collections.[27][28][29] She and her husband Ferdinand hold the Guinness World Record for the Greatest
Robbery of a Government.[30][31][32] The subject of dozens[33] of court cases around the world,[14] she was
eventually convicted of corruption charges for her activities during her term as governor of Metro
Manila in 2018.[34][35]
Contents
 1Early life
o 1.1Birth and family background
o 1.2Early childhood
o 1.3Education
 2Early career
 3Courtship and marriage to Ferdinand Marcos
 4The 1965 presidential campaign
 5The first Marcos term (1965–1969)
o 5.1The 1965 inauguration
o 5.2Early projects as First Lady
o 5.3The Blue Ladies
o 5.4The Beatles incident
o 5.5Increased independence
 6The second Marcos term (1969–1972)
o 6.1Foreign relations roles
o 6.2Accusation of bribery in Constitutional Convention
o 6.3Imelda's actions preceding martial law
 7Martial law (1972–1981)
o 7.1Foreign relations roles
o 7.2Governor of Metro Manila
o 7.3Minister of Human Settlements
o 7.4Batasan Pambansa Assemblyman
o 7.5Role in Benigno Aquino's exile
 8Downfall of Marcos
 9Exile in Hawaii (1986–1991)
 10Return from exile (1991–present)
 11Major court cases
o 11.11988 racketeering case (Manhattan)
o 11.21990 Swiss Federal Supreme Court forfeiture case
o 11.31995 Human Rights Victims Class Suit (Hawaii)
o 11.4Corruption cases in the Philippines
 12Ill-gotten wealth
o 12.1Court rulings on and estimated amount of stolen wealth
o 12.2Sequestered wealth
o 12.3Net worth in 2012
o 12.4World record for largest theft from a government
 13Edifice complex
 14Cultural influence
o 14.1The word "Imeldific"
o 14.2Influence on Philippine fashion
o 14.3Portrayals in media and the arts
 15Honors and decorations
o 15.1National honors
o 15.2Foreign honors
 16References
 17Bibliography
 18External links
Early life[edit]
Birth and family background[edit]
Imelda Remedios Visitacion Romuáldez[36] was born at dawn in San Miguel, Manila, on July 2, 1929.
[36]
Her parents were Vicente Orestes Romuáldez, a lawyer, and his second wife, Remedios Trinidad.
Imelda is the sixth of Vicente's eleven children, and Remedios's firstborn.[37]
Born into the Romuáldez political dynasty from the province of Leyte, Imelda grew up in a wealthy
clan of devout Catholics.[38][page needed] She was baptized in the nearby San Miguel Church on the day
after her birth.
Notable members of Imelda's family include the clan matriarch Doña Trinidad López de Romuáldez;
her uncle Norberto Romualdez, who was Supreme Court of the Philippines Associate Justice;[39] and
her younger brother Benjamin Romualdez, who served as the Governor of Leyte and later as an
ambassador under the Ferdinand Marcos regime.[40]
Early childhood[edit]
At the time of her birth, the Romualdezes were wealthy. However, around 1931–1932, the financial
conditions of Imelda's family began to decline.[41][page needed][17]
Imelda's parents were separated for a time, during which Remedios worked for the nuns at the Asilo
de San Vicente de Paul.[41][page needed] Vicente and Remedios eventually reconciled but to avoid further
conflict, she and her children, including Imelda, moved to their house's garage. In 1937 after
Conchita's birth, Remedios's health began to fail and she died on April 7, 1938, due to double
pneumonia.[41][page needed] In her ten years of marriage, Imelda had five siblings – Benjamin, Alita, Alfredo,
Armando and Conchita.[42][page needed]
In the same year, 1938,[41][page needed] Imelda's father gave up Manila due to his declining fortunes in his
law practice and returned to Tacloban where he could support his family with a simpler lifestyle. She
grew up learning Waray language, learned Tagalog language and, eventually, English.[citation needed]

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Imelda Romualdez Marcos[4]

(born Imelda Trinidad Romualdez; July 2, 1929) is

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