Photos courtesy of MARCOS PRESIDENTIAL CENTER
 

It was good seeing my aunt, the former first lady Imelda R. Marcos, in very high spirits as she was interviewed by her daughter Senator Imee in the former’s Valentine’s Day video post on social media. Imelda was asked to approve or disapprove traditional Valentine’s gifts, from jewelry to balloons. She approved most but in regards to balloons she said, “They are beautiful outside but empty inside.” As she would remind us, “Don’t be BBD (Beautiful but Dumb).” This is one of the many things my aunt has tried to inculcate in us since we were little and reflects her own belief that “guarantees one’s authentic commitment as a human and social being.”

She was indeed the perfect partner for my uncle, the late President Ferdinand E. Marcos. Ferdinand and Imelda’s love story is hard to beat. As a widow, her devotion to and unfaltering love for her late husband is stuff legends are made of. She would often say their love is for eternity. I really believe that. To this day, when you talk to her about my uncle, her eyes light up.
 

During Noche Buena last year, I had made a bag featuring two photos: One of her when she was just a young girl in Tacloban, Leyte and the other of my uncle in uniform just after the war, taken Washington DC in America to lobby for the release of reparation pay for Filipino soldiers who fought as guerillas during World War II.
 

In her 90s my aunt’s memory gets muggy at times, with irregular bouts of failing to recognize people, but when she saw the photo of my uncle, the look in her face and her eyes, as she held his image that embellished my bag, said it all. The mind may sometimes forget but the heart recognized the emotion that has so embedded itself by the constant reinforcing experience of love during the time they were together.
 

Their love story began when 21-year-old Imelda arrived in Manila from Leyte on July 4, 1952. She was accompanied by her first cousin Congressman Daniel Z. Romualdez, who picked her up in Tacloban City with a promise to Imelda’s father, his uncle Vicente Orestes to take care of her in Manila as she embarked to seek a better future in the city. Daniel was speaker pro-tempore at the time but later would become speaker of the house from 1957 to 1962. Imelda lived with Daniel and his wife Paz Gueco Romualdez in their Quezon City home.
 

Her first job was at the P.E. Domingo piano store in Escolta, where her brother Francisco or Francipin was the company’s lawyer. Later, my aunt worked at the Central Bank office, then located in the old Intendencia building in Intramuros. Daniel would take Imelda to work each day and also pick her up from there as his office in the Legislative Building (now the National Museum of Fine Arts) was not far away. While working at the Central Bank, my aunt by chance was offered a scholarship to the Philippine Women’s University (PWU). I say by chance because my aunt was attending a reception at PWU, when she was asked to sing. The president and the dean were so impressed they offered her a scholarship in voice on the spot.
 

After work, my aunt would go to the PWU campus on Taft Avenue where she was taught Voice by Adoracion Reyes. In February 1953, Reyes and her husband submitted my aunt’s photograph as a candidate for Ms. Manila. By March 1953, my aunt was awarded Muse of Manila and became sought after by many admirers for her simple “dalagang bukid” beauty. Men vied for introductions and attention but my uncle was not one of them, not yet. On the evening of April 6, 1954, Speaker Daniel called his wife Paz to pick him up at Congress. He told her that session was soon to adjourn and he would be ready to go home. My aunt went with Daniel’s wife Paz to the Legislative building. It was supposed to be a quick trip with both ladies not bothering to dress up.
 

In fact, they just waited at the parkinglot for Daniel to come out but it was taking too long and there were so many mosquitos that they decided to enter the building to see what was holding Daniel up. They went to the session hall and as they approached, they were greeted by the voice of a congressman over the loudspeaker engaged in the filibuster of the omnibus bill. A filibuster is “an action such as a prolonged speech that obstructs progress in a legislative assembly while not technically contravening the required procedures.” When it is the turn of a congressman to speak, there is no time limit and he can hold the session hostage for as long as he can if he feels the majority of the house would vote contrary to his stand.

Some, I heard, have resorted to reading the telephone book. For those who don’t know what a telephone book is, look it up! The congressman happened to be the young legislator from the north—Ferdinand E. Marcos. It wasn’t’ the first time Imelda heard my uncle speak, who spoke at the Leyte High School graduation ceremonies. Remember, there was a 12-year gap between them. Paz and Imelda were told to wait for Daniel at the House cafeteria. Whenthe session finally ended, Daniel along with other congressmen started to fill the cafeteria, among them Marcos. Daniel did not introduce the young Marcos to my aunt. After all, Daniel was from the Nacionalista Party while my uncle was from the faction that split from the Nacionalista Party, the Liberal Party. When Marcos was young, had the reputation as a ladies’ man, so understandably

Daniel was wary. The person responsible for the introduction was Congressman Jacobo Gonzales of Laguna. My aunt had never been introduced to Congressman Gonzales, so when Gonzalez introduced her to my uncle, my aunt had to ask Gonzalez, “And who are you?” From then on, Gonzales would be part of my aunt and uncle’s lives. I would read about him in my uncle’s diaries and how funny he was, always managing to entertain. He would also be in old photographs with captured images of my aunt and uncle in casual moments with friends. Once introduced, my uncle asked my aunt to stand up so he could measure his height against hers. My aunt was only wearing slippers (mismatched as it was on account of leaving the house in a rush) at that time. Seemingly pleased with the results, my uncle declared, “I guess you’ll do.” And then proceeded to ask myaunt to marry him (just 30 minutes after meeting her)—a proposal my aunt shrugged off for its absurdity.

That very night he was telling his friends that he was going to marry my aunt. Someone asked my uncle why it took him this long before deciding to marry. He responded, “My greatest fear was that someday I might wake up and discover someone beside me I was not in love with. I was afraid I would go crazy and shoot myself. So, I kept window shopping but when I met Imelda, I was swept off my feet. I proposed to her in the first 30 minutes.” In Senator Imee’s Valentine video reel, she asked her mom what her favorite flower was. When she went to work the next day, there were two roses on her desk. One was in full bloom and the other still a bud. “The bud represented his newfound love for me.” The rose in full bloom stood for the love that could blossom between them if she would accept him.
 

News of the smitten congressman from the north reached then President Ramon Magsaysay. In anticipation of another session the next day with Marcos railroading the budget by his filibuster, the President suggested to Speaker Daniel to invite my aunt back to the session hall to distract the Ilocano. True enough, as soon as my uncle saw my aunt, he ended his filibuster to join Imelda. True story.
Congress adjourned in time for Holy Week and, in a matter of days, Marcos would have to prove himself and apply skills honed during the war as a tactician and strategist to win the hand of the woman who would become the love of his life, Imelda.
Abangan ang susunod na kabanata.