When you’re the victor, you can say things you want to say and the world will listen. The landslide win of president-elect BBM has definitely emboldened the Marcoses to say that from now on “we will not revise anything, all we will do is to also make known, make public what we know of the side of the story which we have perhaps been remiss in not telling simply because we were scared of the traditional media, of all the abuse, diatribe, the insult.… We’ll just tell our side of the story the best we can.”
So declared Senator Imee Marcos last week in an interview with the ANC Headstart. With over 31 million votes behind the victory of president-elect Bongbong Marcos making him the first majority elected president of our country since his father and namesake, President Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr., won over Senator Serging Osmeña in 1969, every word that Senator Imee utters carries considerable weight. As the elder sister of the president, Senator Imee holds a unique position in our government, the likes of which we have not seen before. She is the eldest child of the late President Ferdinand, Sr. and former First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Senator Imee was born on November 12, 1955 and was 16 years old when Martial Law was proclaimed on September 21, 1972. She was studying abroad at that time, completing her high school education. In 1973, she enrolled at Princeton University to pursue her college education. Upon her return from Princeton, she had her baptism in politics when she served as the chairperson of the Kabataang Barangay, the forerunner of the Sangguniang Kabataan, in 1976. In 1984, she was elected as one of the two Assemblymen representing Ilocos Norte to the Batasang Pambansa. She held on to this post until the Batasang Pambansa was dissolved following the Edsa People Power Revolution in February 1986. The US government flew Marcos and his family out of the country to avoid further bloodshed. After Marcos’s death in 1989 while in exile, President Cory allowed his family, including Sen. Imee, to return to our country in 1991 in order to face several charges. Soon after their return, the Marcoses, led by the former First Lady, returned to politics by running for president in 1992 but she only placed 5th among the 7 candidates. Her only son, Bongbong, ran and won as Representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte. Senator Imee was elected as Representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte for three terms from 1998 to 2007. Thereafter, she served as governor from 2010 to 2019. On her first term as governor she defeated her cousin, Governor Michael Keon, who was running for reelection. On her next bid for governor, she ran unopposed. She ran for senator in 2019 and was elected No. 8 out of the 12 winning senators.
The second Marcos in Malacañang enjoys massive popular support. BBM’s total votes exceeded the combined votes received by all his opponents. This has been unprecedented since 1969. And this has not been lost to Senator Imee who expressed deep gratitude to the Filipino people for giving their family a second chance. The 2022 elections have shown that the Marcoses have regained the people’s trust, which they lost during the People Power Revolution. Now that they are given a second chance, they should not squander their opportunity. If they truly want full vindication, the next 6 years should be marked by honest and dedicated service to our people.
Undeniably, Senator Imee carries a lot of undesirable baggage. Among them are questions over her academic credentials, the extrajudicial killing of student Archimedes Trajano where she was implicated, her unexplained wealth and ill-gotten wealth of her family and the tobacco excise tax funds issue. Senator Imee’s public life is shrouded in controversy and her opponents have exploited them to put her down, but she has not lost an election. She’s intelligent, articulate and has learned the art of extricating herself from a difficult and compromising situation. In many departments, she’s sharper than our president-elect.
Senator Imee personifies a resolute individual who is not broken by personal catastrophe. Her family was rejected by the Filipinos and driven out of the country in humiliation and defeat in 1986. But Senator Imee, together with her family, is strong and determined to redeem the family’s honor. She definitely embraces what one writer has said: “My past has not defined me, destroyed me, deterred me, or defeated me; it has only strengthened me.” Her family’s efforts to rebrand their name and reputation through social media took years to gain traction but they eventually paid off. Despite all the denials, the troll farms that started their operation long before BBM ran for president have waged massive disinformation, which whitewashed the human-rights abuses, corruption and abuse of power that marked the regime of the late dictator. The misinformation targeted the young voters who had no experience of the horrors of martial law. Millions of the uninitiated took a favorable view of the 2 decades of Marcos, Sr.’s reign and even considered the martial law years as the golden age of Philippine politics. This Marcos myth resonated with the poor and the underprivileged that strongly believe that the liberal democracy ideals exclude them and only work for the rich and the educated. Integrity, honesty and accountability are empty slogans, which failed to lift the poor from misery and deprivation. The successive administrations of President Cory, Fidel Ramos and Noynoy Aquino had made good government their hallmark but they made no difference in the poor’s abject existence. BBM’s election as senator in 2010 and 2019, respectively, demonstrated that the Marcoses have recaptured their national constituency. BBM narrowly failed in his bid to win the vice presidency but he came back with a vengeance by subduing his opposition overwhelmingly in the recently concluded presidential elections. Senator Imee is known for her independent streak. Even as a young woman, she had defied her parents when it came to the affairs of the heart. Even as an ally of the ruling party, she caught everyone by surprise when she criticized the government’s handling of the pandemic last year. Although she did not sign the Pharmally report, initially Senator Imee supported the Pharmally investigation even if it meant offending the President and his allies. She participated in the probe and even asked tough questions against the President’s men. She assailed rice tariffication and voiced concern over the proliferation of smuggled agricultural products.
Despite being the elder sister of the incoming president, she did not take any interest in the Senate presidency. She has enough delicadeza not to occupy the third most powerful position in the land. She knows that when one family monopolizes power, it breeds tyranny and corruption. But even without holding a top position in the Senate hierarchy, she wields immense authority. More than anyone else in government, she will be consulted by the incoming president on official matters or otherwise. The people have resoundingly given them a second chance. As the eldest sibling, Senator Imee is the keeper of the flame. Let’s pray that they will make up for the lost opportunities, repair the past, right the wrongs and leave a legacy that their family will be proud of and cherished by our people.