Reaction paper on the documentary about Imelda Marcos

Corpuz, Raiza M.

                For almost four generations, the name Marcos has been very popular in the Philippines. The most controversial Marcos yet is Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, tenth president of the Republic of the Philippines and first president to win a second term in Philippine history. Almost every Filipino knows his story, but how about the lady behind the shadow of this enigmatic man?

                Imelda Romualdez-Marcos, a beautiful woman in her youth has captured the heart and mind of a very capable man the moment they laid eyes on each other. This young woman who apparently has many suitors back at her province married the young man 11 days after they met. Little did she know that the life she is going to live from now on is very different from what she has right now. Imelda struck me as someone obsessed with beauty. Also, I think she is a very simple minded woman which is a good thing at times. She is someone who appreciates beauty in everything which I find really amazing but as the documentary went on, it annoyed me as she repeatedly mentioned her own philosophy about beauty.

                Only after watching the documentary did I realize that she has helped Marcos become president more than it looks like. She once asked her husband what her role as the first lady is, and Marcos answered that her role is to make the house he provides the Filipino people, a home. Once again, she associated home with beauty then to culture and this led to the building of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. I understand that she wants to enrich the Philippine culture with her project but I really didn’t think it was necessary to build an extravagant building. As I mentioned earlier, she has very simple views about life. I also though she was very naïve because the ideas that she presented in the documentary were very shallow and yet when people try to criticize and contradict her, she defends herself immediately.

                Towards the end of the documentary however, I found myself actually sympathizing with her when she lost her husband and her possessions exposed to the public. I see her as a child who doesn’t know that what she’s done is wrong. Only after she was charged with several cases of theft did she see what she did wrong. If only the people around her corrected her mistakes and expressed honest opinions about her ideologies instead of sucking up to her to get close to Marcos, she would have been a better woman with a greater ideas to promote the welfare of the poor at the same time spreading her philosophy that beauty is in everyone because it is natural.