Filipinos are understandably aghast over the cover feature of chi-chi lifestyle magazine Philippine Tatler. A glam Imee Marcos is exhibited in its October 2015 edition in a “crimson” dress striking a pose showing legs even a 20-year-old would be envious of.
To be fair to those who’ve thrown an epic tantrum over this spectacle, Imee Marcos is the daughter of the late former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos who allegedly stole billions and killed and tortured thousands during his rule over the country in the 1970s. So it is quite understandable to be a a bit upset seeing one of the Marcoses all dolled up like this on a high-society magazine — as if all of what allegedly happened in the past could simply be literally glossed over.
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The only problem with the sort of “indignation” over this spread flying around all over the Net is that it is the wrong kind. The real outrage here is over why — if the Marcoses were indeed guilty of all the “crimes” they are accused of — Philippine society still embraces their graces; enough of an embrace, as a matter of fact, for the most exclusive society gossip magazine in the country to feature one of them this way.
What this latest outrage fad really highlights is how Filipinos fail to build a society where justice is delivered in a consistent and transparent manner.
One wonders, for example, why two Aquino governments have failed to put any of the Marcoses in jail. That confronting fact makes any of the lip service Philippine President Benigno Simeon ‘BS’ Aquino III pays to the “sacrifice” of his father (whose “martyrdom” in 1983 the Marcoses allegedly perpetrated) and that of his mother (who was a “heroic” widow since then until her death in 2009) ring hollow.
How can a prominent and much-revered family such as the Aquinos who were among the direct alleged victims of the Marcos regime occupy the most powerful office in the land not once but twice and still fail to put any of the Marcoses in prison?
The irony seems to routinely fly over the heads of Aquino supporters who dish out emo tantrums over the continued presence of the Marcoses in Philippine politics and society:
Whenever Aquinoists raise girly fits over the “impunity” of the Marcoses, what they are really doing is pointing the spotlight on the complete failure of the Aquinos in delivering on their promise of “justice” to the victims of the alleged crimes of the Marcos regime.
That’s the trouble with emotive activism. It does not deliver results, only noise.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
Yeah she is a hotty even at that age. Just another distraction away from the real events, like zero industrial growth etc
Because there is really a Stockholm Syndrome at play in the subconscious of Kris and Noynoy. They grew up hating the Marcoses, but in their young mind then, there was Ninoy in jail and there was Marcos in power. Who was winning in the mind of the two young minds, think about that.
So you have two spouting anti Marcos words with their mouths. But, look at how Kris acts, emulating the glamor of Imelda and Imee, except that she doesn’t have the looks and the it factor– just like a yaya trying to be glamorous — totally opposite Cory. Noynoy is trying to govern like Marcos, except that Noynoy does not have the brain, thus, Noynoy operates even outside of the law to show power, when Marcos always operated within the law.
The fault of Aquinos/ Cojuangcos is that they must know these two have abnormal minds, and yet are the ones they have chosen to inflict on the mentality of the nation, instead of asking the two to just live private lives, as most of them do. The public perceive this, and yet can’t explain the anomally. That is why nobody listens now to the yellow media because something in the subconscious does not hold together.
I’m sure convicting and sentencing the Marcoses isn’t as straightforward as these bakla activists make it out to be — because when you are an Aquino or a Cojuangco (or for that matter any family in the oligarchy), your loyalty tends to favour the circles within your immediate social class first. Ordinary Filipinos come in a far second. So when it is a choice between protecting your relationship with the bigger public and protecting your relations with circles within your caste, the latter wins hands down and trumps all the rest.
In short, the Aquino’s and Marcoses probably have some kind of unwritten agreement on a let’s-not-go-there zone when it comes to political competition. Perhaps former President Gloria Arroyo was not in on any such agreements — which is why she is in prison today and not any Marcos or their circle of martial law cronies (most notably Enrile).
I absolutely agree with Kris Aquino trying sooo hard to emulate that natural classy demeanor of Imelda and Imee Marcos. Kay Imee Marcos pa lang, walang-wala si Kris talaga! haha. Imee is effortlessy sophisticated na kahit mag.dress down sya, or even if nakikihalubilo sya sa masa, hindi nawawala yung grace nya. Yan ang totoong sosyal! Not to mention, Imee is sobrang eloquent pa and sharp-tongued.
Perfect write-up in more ways than one.
“Losers” is the ultimate pejorative that is ascribed to us Filipinos. Here’s why. “Since Marcos was never indicted, much less, convicted, he is innocent of the crimes ascribed to him”; (never mind that the Swiss have seen fit to repatriate some six-hundred-million dollars of the loot.. he is innocent). By extension, “..since Senators Ponce-Enrile, Jinggoy and Bong.. and VP Binay, (of course) have not been hauled to trial for the crime of plunder attributed to them, they are all innocent”. We seem to be oblivious of the fact that prosecutors, judges and others in ‘law enforcement’, (can we exempt the media?), can be easily bribed, subornedu, and intimidated, and can ,therefore, delay the process of justice indefinitely. These alleged ‘criminals’ can, thus, plead innocence and avoid ‘jail’ under the principle of “innocent-until-proven guilty”. Today, these ‘alleged’ felons, yet free as they’d ever been, can go on in their merry looting ways, saying.. “The law and the jails are for ‘losers”we can keep both at arm’s length indefinitely”.
It is absurd that since neither Cory, Ramos, Gloria nor Pnoy had lifted a finger to address this travesty, ‘all’s well and good’.. and, much like evil-tasting ‘castor oil’, we just have to take it and learn how to live with it. In fact, we haven’t shown any real anger or outrage since 1986. All these decades, we’ve been treated like mushrooms.. ‘kept in the dark and fed sh#t every day’.. and we seem not to mind. Like cattle, we’ve gotten used to it.
If there’s any one favor we could do for ourselves, breaking out of this ‘cattle mentality’ would be it. Let’s disabuse our minds that “there is nothing we can do”. If talking is all we can do for now.. fine.. lets keep on talking even if it is just among people in an insignificant circle. Like a pebble that’s dropped in a puddle of water, the circle radiates outward and becomes ever bigger. Persistence does produce results. It gradually brings about the change that’s being talked about.
Well said, Vagoneto.
Well Ms Rieles you must mean like reciting a mantra shall bring results but you are mistaken for it shall only self hypnotized you and not come to the truth. You see one must see things as they really are and not how one wants it to be. You shall remain in the same rut you have put yourself in since 1986 Dude.
Hmmm. Photoshopped for the glamour? Parang ipinatong lang ang ulo sa mas batang katawan 😉
There’s a whole industry of desperate graphic artists who would “modify” images like that one up there, for a fee, just to get some food on the table. Wow. That is anothert sad state of employment and livelihood two Aquino leadership haven’t done anything about.
what cory should have done when she assumed the presidency after the people power revolution in 1986 was to announce the formation of a revolutionary government. that way she could have gotten rid of all the people in the previous martial law govt and convened a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution. what happened was that she let the crooks in government most notably in the judiciary stay in place.thats why some of them are still in power to this day. masyado siguro siyang maawain at ayaw niya magkagulo. or baka di niya naisip yon. furthermore yung ibang nakapaligid sa kanya bantay salakay ang ginawa at nagnakaw na sa mga pwestong pinaglagyan sa kanila. tapos puro coup noon diba kaya di na niya magalaw yung ibang mga corrupt dahil baka matangal siya ng coup from within her current allies.
All well and good, except that you are completely wrong with your premises. Everything you suggested was done.
” announce the formation of a revolutionary government.” – Cory did that, abolished the old constitution, created the “Freedom Constitution of 1986” and ruled by Executive Fiat (Yes, she ruled as a dictator for a time).
“conven[ed] a constitutional assembly to draft a new constitution.” – Yup. That happened. To be more precise, it was a Constitutional Commission (ConCom) all made up of Cory’s handpicked appointees.
“she let the crooks in government most notably in the judiciary stay in place.” – All the justices in the Supreme court who were in favor of Marcos resigned after he was ousted out of delicadeza. This is totally unprecedented and left a Supreme Court that was totally in favor of her government, led by the Chief Anti-Marcos of them all, Claudio Teehankee.
During those days, she had unprecedented power and support. Heck, she had everything going for her, coups aside.
We just have to accept that she and everyone who followed her “blew it.”
No, we just have to accept that everything was a mistake from the very beginning. Mrs. Aquino was the evil in sheep clothing, the hand of those dying to be in power and in which they conspired to oust the very hope of this nation. In the first place, she did not win in the election. Pity to those who trusted her, to those who genuinely fought for the change (i.e. S.Laurel) , because she did not deliver on her promises. She was actually the messenger of the oligarchs, the greedy elite few who couldn’t wait to plunder and amass everything that Marcos put up for the people. See, they got what they wanted through her and the people suffered to this day. The only reason why we are hearing these allegations to these days, which are surely concocted, exxagerated and unfounded, is for them to stay in power and the Oligarchs to continue enjoying the benefits that comes with it. Speaking of CLOSURE/RESOLUTION, don’t even think about it because they won’t dare to initiate. You know why, because that’s the only remaining weapon they have to stay in power. Now observe, the oligarchs owned media are in full force in throwing old and even resolved issues to the Marcoses hiding on the banner of democracy, human rights, however you call it. The thing is they are afraid that people are becoming more intelligent, critical and receptive on whatis true and what is a lie and and that eventually they will know the truth. History is judged by the present and our wrong belief and lesson of the past (as portrayed by the yellow society), led us to this – messed up country. Wonder why we never learned or figure out the right thing, because our knowledge of history was never correct in the first place. All the good things -projects, programs, laws, policies, ideas, etc. – that Marcos built and implemented were the best that happened to the Philippines but they were wiped out in our history or painted with malice. These policies, projects, programs, ideals could have been our bedrock/foundation to build the future, but we never did because we were taught otherwise. There is still hope, and I hope this time around, we choose the leader who knew better, who is really for the people and not the elite few.
Aside from everything else, she is a murderer who has never been brought to justice. US courts found her responsible for murder and issued a US$4.2 million judgement against her which has never been collected because the Philippine government couldn’t figure out how to serve the papers.
If I may, here’s my own post on the subject. http://www.spikeinmanila.com/?p=15721
If true, then it was a case of murder, but why didn’t the Trajano family file a case of murder?
Imee’s defense, as far as I could gather, was the jurisdiction of the courts, it being an American court. There was no refuting evidence or testimonies because that would mean admitting jurisdiction of the court over the case. She lost. Still, whether she herself ordered the kidnapping,torture, and murder of Trajano, that was never established.
would you care to clarify what this means then:
“Although Marcos-Manotoc’s default concedes that she controlled
the military intelligence personnel who tortured and murdered Trajano, and in turn that
she was acting under color of the martial law declared by then-President Marcos, we
have concluded that her actions were not those of the Republic of the Philippines for
purposes of sovereign immunity under Chuidian.”
http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/research/Philippines/Trajano%20v%20Marcos,%20%20978%20F%202d%20493.pdf
“Marcos-Manotoc did not appear and a default judgment was entered against her…”
I am not a lawyer but I understand that to mean that because the claim was not contested (as she did not appear) the narration of facts by the accuser stands as it was– default.
Note that it says: “Although Marcos-Manotoc’s default concedes that she controlled…”
It does not say: Although Marcos-Manotoc concedes that she controlled…
“6
Marcos-Manotoc argues that the Philippine Military Intelligence is an “instrumentality”
of a foreign state within § 1603(b) of the FSIA, and that the tortious acts were brought
about by persons acting pursuant to the authority of Marcos, Marcos-Manotoc, and Ver
such that the liability of Marcos-Manotoc is expressly premised on her authority as a
government agent. She further contends that, regardless of whether she acted within the
scope of her employment, she is entitled to absolute immunity under § 16047 because a
foreign state and its agents lose sovereign immunity only for tortious acts occurring in
the United States. See McKeel v. Islamic Republic of Iran, 722 F.2d 582, 588 (9th
Cir.1983) (Congress did not intend to assert jurisdiction over foreign states for events
occurring wholly within their own territory), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 880, 105 S.Ct. 243,
83 L.Ed.2d 182 (1984). Trajano, on the other hand, argues that under Chuidian, the
FSIA does not immunize acts of individuals which are outside the scope of their official
duties,8 and that the acts of torture and arbitrary killing (which the complaint avers
occurred under Marcos-Manotoc’s own authority) cannot be “official acts” within
whatever authority Marcos-Manotoc was given by the Republic of the Philippines.”
“In 1991, she moved to set aside entry of default on the ground of insufficiency of service. The motion was denied and, after a damages hearing,judgment was entered based on the court’s findings that Trajano was tortured and his death was caused by Marcos-Manotoc.”
____________________
It was a belated defense strategy because the default decision could no longer be reversed.
If you take the decision as it impresses you on the surface, it would look like Imee herself confessed to the crime then justified the act as an official act thus she is immune from prosecution.
If Imee had the IQ of an imbecile, it would make sense.
Which makes for a great legal strategy, mining those loopholes to death. Except that it didn’t work in a court the Marcoses could not control. After 9 long years of litigation, she was ordered to pay her victims a record-breaking $2 billion US.
That’s her own problem now. Obviously, you are overjoyed. I simply traced how the judgement was arrived at for anyone’s enlightenment.
her own problem? from what i hear 100 of the victims and counting) have died without seeing a cent of the the $2B. it remains to be the filipino people’s problem, how the Marcoses refuse to pay up and own up.
like you said we are both not lawyers and try as we might, we won’t understand all the aspects of this case. my point is simply this, it is wrong to create the impression that Imee lost solely on the basis of jurisdiction. it is wrong to say she might never have committed that crime since she only defaulted. to default and make it an issue of jurisdiction was her best bet (if you agree that she does not have the IQ of an imbecile), considering she and her family were up against 10,000 members of that class suit, which the trajanos joined (instead of filing a separate murder case). 10,000 human rights violations. 10,000 witnesses, 10,000 stories that needed to be told. there is strength in numbers. Imee and her family was found guilty by a court they could not influence.
there is nothing to be overjoyed about, given that this guilty murderer is now on the cover of a high-society magazine.
10,000 human rights victims? Who are they? Look closely and you find them mostly members of SELDA, a communist front organization. More like “10,000 defeated combatants of a failed communist takeover” to me.
My favorite line: Better them victims demanding reparations than victors inflicting their ideology on the Filipino people.
listen to yourself. you are branding the entire lot of 10,000 complainants as “defeated combatants of a communist takeover” to minimize their claims. as if your word holds more water than the experts who systematically studied the validity of their claims.
“Better them victims demanding reparations than victors inflicting their ideology on the Filipino people.” Damn, you guys are such freaks. i almost wish it YOU defending them in court. that would’ve ended the whole ordeal much sooner.
“…the Hawaii class suit or the MDL-840 is a consolidated case of three groups who sued Marcos in the Hawaii Court in 1986. The three groups were the SELDA group of 9,539; the group of 21 Filipino expatriates in the US led by Vic Clemente and Fluellen Ortigas and the group of three of Prof. Jose Maria Sison, the parents of the former representing his disappeared brother, Francisco Sison and Jose Piopongco…”
https://seldapilipinas.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/rights-victims-who-won-a-favorable-judgement-in-hawaii-clarifies-position-on-the-so-called-recoveries-from-the-sale-of-a-monet-painting/
HAHA. so? i guess this is where you tell me that archimedes trajano was a communist who deserved to be brutally beaten, tortured, and thrown out of a building window.
you’d be hard pressed to prove which of the 10,000 were reds. further, no amount of justification makes torturing a person of ANY political or religious belief acceptable. if this weren’t the case we would have nothing to discuss from the get go, and the marcoses won’t have that $4B problem now (not that they were ever bothered to pay)
The Aquinos are the plunderers.
tangina, inassume mo agad na maka Aquino ang mga, whatchacall ’em? “bakla” activists? (isa ka ding bigot, by the way) Sablay ang argumento mo because you’re only arguing AGAINST the Aquinos (that’s how fucking myopic you got in your haste to misdirect). If I can give less than zero fucks for the Aquinos, I would. So tell me again why my outrage is the “wrong kind”? Because you’re the arbiter of outrage? And The Arbiter says the real outrage should be over why Philippine SOCIETY still embraces your masters’ graces. Yan yung springboard sa lohika mong nagkawatak-watak mid-air. As if society were exclusive to the Marcoses and Marcos cocksuckers like yourself. or the Aquinos, and the Aquino fluffers. No diversity whatsoever, no? And then you wank poetic about “how FILIPINOS fail to build a society where justice is delivered in a consistent and transparent manner.” as if “FILIPINOS” and the “government” were one and the same. As if raising one’s fist isn’t an attempt at justice. hoy, the government does not represent the hopes and dreams of most Filipinos. the only thing you proved here is that the, whatchacall’em? baklang activists? are the ones MAN ENOUGH, WOMAN ENOUGH TO SPEAK UP AND DO SOMETHING when this inutile government fails to “deliver justice in a consistent and transparent manner” while your sweetheart Imee strikes a grotesque pose in an attempt to hit mainstream. we’ll call a spade a spade, and a murderer a murderer. That feeling-cougar on your alta sosyedad magazine cover is the murderer of Archimedes Trajano and God knows who else.
After you’re done offering up the blood of a virgin to non biodegradable diyos-diyosan, you might wanna check your quotations marks. they’re annoying as fuck, and give you away for the paid hack that you are.
pakyu
Ha ha! This gem of a thought represents EVERYTHING that is wrong in the way Filipinos participate in the “democratuc” process:
In case you have not noticed, the lower house of Congress is called the House of Representatives. Because, guess what: they are elected by the popular vote under the assumption that Pinoys will choose the best person who they believe will represent their interests in the legislature.
Other things you may not have noticed. Philippine Senators and the President of the Philippines are elected by popular vote too. What does that tell you? Simple:
Elected officials mirror the character of the electorate.
The Philippine government and the Filipino people, as such, ARE ONE AND THE SAME.
Deal with that.
aysus. tama ka… in an alternate universe where votes can’t be bought and ballots aren’t grabbed by hired guns and the culture of impunity isn’t deeply ingrained in the system.
… But given that the population is doing jack shit to change this, erm, “situation,” I’d say benign0 is spot-on in saying we’re screwing ourselves in the rear.
Whats this? This is kabaklaan–victim mentality whatever you call it.
Sometimes your light shines so bright that it blinds people from seeing who you really are.
“One wonders, for example, why two Aquino governments have failed to put any of the Marcoses in jail.”
While I try to recall the name of that case, Imelda was convicted in it until it was overturned by the Supreme Court.
As (some of) you surely know, you need irrefutable proof to charge and convict someone for something. The government probably has some proof against the Marcoses, though the latter won’t be pushed around just like that. Last I checked, though, the gov’t. has pending cases against the Marcoses. (yun lang, pending…)
I think Cory made the mistake of not having the Marcoses promptly charged for something back then. OTOH, kinda hard to do that when they were abroad and beyond reach. Not sure if the US and PH had some extradition agreement in place that time as well for cross-border cases.
Then again, the main “perpetrator” of the horrible things that occurred back then has died ever since. The government can only charge for something the other Marcoses caused or did, though that remains to be seen.
(Plus, you have many people criticizing the government for not acting speedily or for blaming others for its own incapacity to do something. Par for the course, I suppose.)
Nonetheless, I agree with the part where the government needs to dispense justice with consistency and transparency. And that’s despite the criticism by some people, especially those with nothing better to do.
Up to all of us what we want (to happen) here.
mmmm…..hot for 60
i’d do her……..
aquinos and marcoses both are equal to blame for the shit show that is the philippines. and the people still don’t see this…how sad.
by Tony Lopez >> Imee Marcos delivers October 23, 2015 >> http://goo.gl/qCzPlz
The first province in the Philippines to be ISO-certified
Repeat, ISO – CERTIFIED
i think we shud abide with this rule, “You can’t keep a good man down” and their innocence are the best tool to win cases.
always remember that these number of accuses are mere publicity and charging them in the court is another thing.
do people know, what was the first case they won?
guess what,
it was ninoy’s murder case if u ever recall it.
no slight of proof will indict them to his murder.
it was the first devastated case that happen to the aquinos so far… RIP to mrs. aquino.
The Marcos family exude real class, elegance and substance, therefore any of the Marcos ladies are very fitting for a publication like the Philippine Tatler.