Manila: The alluring photo of Maria Imelda “Imee” Marcos, governor of Ilocos Norte, northern Luzon since 2010, on a glossy monthly magazine (ahead of her 60th birthday on November 12), attracted fans and detractors, and it also revived her controversial love story during the Martial Law rule of her father, former president Ferdinand Marcos, which began in 1972.
Marcos, 59, beauteous in red Filipina gown and billowing hairstyle, with youngish face, lean physique, tight legs and thighs, and daring bare feet, was described by Philippine Tattler in its October edition as “beautiful, strong, and enigmatic”.
Reacting to critics that her photo was altered, Gov. Marcos said, “People said it was photoshopped. No, (it was not), but I’m flattered that people are sceptical.”
Narrating how she prepared for Tattler’s cover, Marcos said, “When asked if I could pose for a shoot, I readily agreed. To prepare to be a cover — girl, I went to a make-up artist. The effect was bonggang-bongga (very alluring). I’m happy the photo turned out beautiful.”
“It’s fun, it’s a great experience (to be a cover girl) because I’m so old already. For all the seniors out there, stand up (for beauty). As we age, we have to stand up for what is alluring (and beautiful),” beamed Marcos.
“I’m not used to being dolled up. Most of the time, I’m in the farm, giving seeds and fertilisers to farmers,” she added.
In 2016, sources said she is planning to run as a representative of the 1st district of Ilocos Norte, her father’s bailiwick, at the lower house of Congress. She was a congresswoman of the 2nd district of Ilocos Norte from 1998 to 2007.
Her children, Michael, Fernando Martin, and Matthew Joseph, by estranged husband, the be-medalled sportsman Tommy Manotoc, are now being groomed for politics, the same sources said.
It is a tradition followed by political dynasty’s in the Philippines.
Reacting politically to Tattler’s cover, Caloy Conde said on social media, (Senator Ferdinand) Bongbong (Marcos) runs for VP. Imee bares her feet. The children of Dictator Marcos enjoy rubbing salt into our wounds.”
Lorraine Marie Badoy said on the internet, “(Seeing Imee on Tattler’s cover) I see the blood of thousands of martyrs of Martial Law (rule) – (who were) bloodied, hog-tied, chopped with evidence of severe torture, (and) rape.”
Badoy recalled Archimedes Trajano, “the 22-year old student who had the temerity to ask Imee in an open forum (in the 70s) – ‘Must the (Marcos party) Kabataang Barangay be headed by the president’s daughter?’’ Then he was found dead.
Badoy also claimed that Marcos underwent plastic surgery for overbite correction, when she was younger.
The Tattler’s story did not touch on the controversial love story of the dictator’s daughter and the handsome athlete Manotoc that hugged the headlines in the early 80s. They were secretly married in Arlington, Virginia in December 1981. He was then separated from Aurora Pijuan (after having two children by her), who was crowned Miss International in 1969, and became his first wife in a marriage ceremony at the Dominican Republic in 1970.
Then, in early 1982, Manotoc’s parents announced that he was missing. This was followed by a daily broadsheet‘s report that Manotoc was rescued by the military — because he was allegedly kidnapped by the communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA) in Sierra Madre. He was part of the first family up to the time that the Marcoses lived in exile following the dictator’s ouster in 1986.
The Manotocs came back to the Philippines in the early 90s, but were reportedly separated in the late 1990s.
