What now, Sen. Imee?
Sen. Imee Marcos, the eldest among former first lady Imelda and late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s children, has done the most despicable thing a member of a family can do, by all cultural norms deeply valued in many ethnic groups in our country.
Last week, in the much-publicized “nonpolitical” rally organized and funded by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) leaders, Imee Marcos was a “special guest” and dropped what many people consider a bombshell. With teary eyes (some people question whether this lachrymal display was just part of the script she had to deliver), she disclosed the level of drug addiction of her own brother, now President Marcos. But then she also included on her list drug-addled individuals within Mr. Marcos’ circle. She named the first lady, Liza Araneta Marcos, and others in their “gang.” Among them are several personalities close to Mr. Marcos, including someone who has passed away, and former presidential assistant for Mindanao Anton Lagdameo.
But isn’t this issue a longtime “open secret” that almost every Filipino who listens to radio and television broadcasts and who is active on social media has been curious about? So, this topic is no longer “news.” Many social media posts show Mr. Marcos in his alleged drug “deranged” state, and comments ridicule how we are being led by someone who is not a straightforward-thinking individual because of his addiction.
If we recall, there was one television interview in the past when former President Rodrigo Duterte blatantly accused Mr. Marcos of being a drug addict, a “cocaine user.” Some social media posts also questioned Duterte’s own reported addiction to fentanyl, a pain-relieving drug now globally considered an illegal drug because of its known effects on the user’s mental acuity.
Aside from crossing a deeply held Filipino cultural norm—that of protecting the integrity of one’s family, including its members’ deep and dirty secrets—Imee Marcos also started her own journey to self-destruct.
If she intends to curry the favors of Vice President Sara Duterte and her supporters, including the thousands of diehard Duterte supporters (DDS, which, some say, also stands for Davao Death Squad), to make her a plausible teammate of the VP in the 2028 presidential elections, then she ought to think not only twice or thrice, but many times.
Imee Marcos ought to think that the VP—like her father, who is now detained at The Hague, probably until the end of this year—is a cunning politician who slides in and out of controversy and seemingly gets away with it. If the disbandment of the erstwhile “UniTeam” is an indication, it could mean that the VP might be playing sweet music with Imee Marcos until this point. If what Imee Marcos did can create adverse effects on the VP’s own political ambitions, she can always be dropped like a hot potato anytime.
Moreover, there are several serious issues with Imee Marcos’ latest rant about her brother’s drug addiction. Why disclose it at this time? If she already knew this a long time ago as a family member, why is it only now that she publicly acknowledged it? And during a rally staged by the INC?
Did she not sing praises for the UniTeam of Mr. Marcos and the VP during the 2022 election campaign? If she knew about this and the extent of the addiction of the soon-to-be president, then her strong push and campaign for the victory of the Marcos-Sara team in 2022 can be considered fraudulent. Her strong pitch for the victory of the team can be considered “false advertisement,” like marketing a flawed or defective product as the best option to consumers.
Many voters, like the 15 million who chose the better alternative for president—now Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo, who served as vice president to Duterte—already knew about this Marcos family secret. That is one reason they did not vote for the UniTeam, despite their much more grandiose campaign sorties compared to the more modestly funded campaigns of the then VP Robredo’s team.
UniTeam also had the bloc voting support of the INC. In contrast, Robredo got only the endorsements of some Catholic prelates and clergy persons. Even the predominantly Catholic constituents of the country did not give Robredo their “bloc vote.” They were not ordered by their religious leaders to vote for her and her running mate then—now Sen. Kiko Pangilinan—since there was no enforced “bloc voting” among the country’s millions of Catholic voters.
Imee Marcos’ revelation also triggered a word war among her family members. After it was broadcast on national television, presidential son and Imee’s nephew, Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, posted on his social media page saying that what his aunt did could not have been done by a “real” sister!
Did this post insinuate about another dirty “open” secret of Imee Marcos’ own identity that has been the stuff of many social media posts and rumor mills? What now, Sen. Imee?
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