Marcos, Imelda
(b. 1929), Philippine former first lady. Born on 2 July 1929 in Manila, onetime beauty queen Imelda Romualdez Marcos is best known as the spouse of Ferdinand Marcos (1917–1989), whom she married in 1954 when he was a young member of the Philippine congress. After her husband was elected president in 1965, as first lady she embarked on a beautification program for run-down Manila, commissioned orphanages, homes for the aged, and daycare centers, distributed seeds for backyard gardens, and arranged free medical care for the poor—while allegedly confiscating wealth from the rich for her personal bank accounts. In 1974, Marcos appointed her governor of Metro Manila. In 1978, after she was elected to the interim parliament, the Batasan Pambansa, she became minister of human settlements. As her husband's health deteriorated, Imelda began to run the civilian government, even campaigning for him. In 1986, when he was ousted by the People Power movement, she fled with him to Honolulu. In 1991 she returned to the Philippines and ran unsuccessfully for the presidency. In 1993, Imelda Marcos was convicted of corruption but appealed the case, which in 2002 was still pending. In 1995, she was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives. Although for a time theworld's richest woman, she has been accused of helping her husband steal nearly $5 billion, for which she faces lawsuits in the Philippines for alleged illegal money transfers and tax evasion.
Imelda Marcos, rumored to be seeking public office, at a mosque in Manila in July 2000. (AFP/CORBIS)Further Reading
Ellison, Katherine. (1988) Imelda: Steel Butterfly of the Philippines. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Mijares, Primitivo. (1976) The Conjugal Dictatorship. San Francisco, CA: Union Square Publications.
Psinakis, Steve. (1981) Two Terrorists Meet. Dobbs Ferry, NY: Morgan & Morgan.
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