Imelda Marcos
Imelda Marcos
Imelda Romuáldez Marcosis the widow of the Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the 10th president. She served as First Lady from 1965 to 1986 during the dictatorship of her husband. She remains one of the richest politicians in the Philippines through her collection of clothing, artwork, and jewelry, along with money in offshore bank accounts under the pseudonym "Jane Ryan". As a result, she has been called a kleptocrat by her critics who accuse her of plunder...
ProfessionPolitical Wife
Date of Birth2 July 1929
CityManila, Philippines
It is terribly important to do certain things, such as wear overembroidered dresses. After all, the mass follows class. Class never follows mass.
I have never been a material girl. My father always told me never to love anything that cannot love you back.
Never dress down for the poor. They won't respect you for it. They want their First Lady to look like a million dollars.
The Marcos era was the golden time for the Philippines. We had the lowest crime rate in the world in Manila and real development then. At last, people are starting to understand this.
It is shallow people who think beauty is frivolous or excessive. If you are bringing beauty and god, you are enriching the country. Rice feeds the body, books feed the mind, beauty feeds the soul. It is one thing I can really be proud of and stand tall in the world.
I hardly can sleep. I feel that my target now is really to save Mother Earth for humanity. And it's doable.
In the material world, where everything is valued, when you commit yourself to God, beauty and love, it can be mistaken for extravagance.
When they see me holding fish, they can see that I am comfortable with kings as well as with paupers.
Why should people be afraid that we use a few small pellets of uranium at the nuclear power plant in Bataan? Don't they know that we're surrounded by uranium? We have the world's fourth largest deposits of uranium. Yes, we're all radioactive -- must be the reason why we have so many faith healers!
If you know how rich you are, you are not rich. But me, I am not aware of the extent of my wealth. That's how rich we are.
I always say you can never be extravagant with beauty. Beauty is God made real. Beauty is life.
I am beyond logic and rationality.
My husband does not like me to give interviews because I say too much. No talk, no trouble.
They went into my closets looking for skeletons, but thank God, all they found were shoes, beautiful shoes.