Golden age of arts and culture

Some friends and relatives have been asking me what was happening to Imelda R. Marcos, who has been out of the limelight even after her son Ferdinand E. Marcos Jr. became President.

As far as I know, she is alive and well.

I believe Imelda is intentionally keeping herself out of the limelight because she does not want to compete with BBM.

Imelda is advanced in age and would rather leave BBM to do his thing.

But, if there’s one thing about Imelda I cannot forget is that, as First Lady to strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos, she was responsible for the country’s golden age of arts and culture, which could well be her legacy

If there’s one thing that Marcos-haters (who would want Marcos Sr. and Imelda to disappear into oblivion), want is for the people to forget what Imelda, as First Lady, did for Filipinos during her time.

For the record, Imelda brought to the nation well-known hotel brands like the Hilton, Peninsula, Mandarin Oriental, Holiday Inn and many other brands, some of which still exist today.

Then came the building of the Cultural Center of the Philippines where performances of Filipino creativity in arts and culture were held.

It was also the time when the nation had the Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center, Kidney Center, the Children’s Hospital and parks in Quezon City were built.

Recall that Imleda was responsible for hosting a Miss Universe beauty pageant in 1974.

I cannot forget that time when Imelda brought to the country the famous opera singer Placido Domingo, well-known concert pianist Van Cliburn and the Bolshoi Ballet.

But the most lasting legacy of Imelda was the promotion of arts and culture, especially in visual arts, which made Filipinos appreciate the creativity of their fellow Filipinos.

My gulay, we have Juan Luna with his “Spolarium,” Then came Fernando Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” Francisco, famous for his painting of historical images during the discovery of the Philippines;

Guillermo Tolentino, Napoleon Abueva, Cesar Legaspi, Vicente Manansala, Victorio Edades, Hernando Ocampo, Arturo Luz, Jeremías Elizalde Navarro, Ang Kiukok, Jose Joya, Benedicto “Bencab” Cabrera, Abdulmari Imao, Federico Alcuaz; Francisco Coching and Larry Alcala, among others.

Some moneyed art collectors made fortunes.

Most of them were declared national artists during Imelda’s time.

There’s no doubt that those were the golden years of arts and culture, which would well immortalize Imelda’s name and her legacy.

It’s unfortunate that nobody like Imelda has followed her.

But, Imelda will forever be remembered for what she had done for the nation.

Heritage and old churches

Imelda also inspired the restoration of heritage houses and buildings like those in Vigan, Ilocos Sur and in Cavite where the first flag of the Philippines was displayed.

In Calamba, Laguna where our national hero Jose Rizal was born, and centuries-old churches, in Ilocos Norte, in Ilocos Sur, in Bohol and Cebu, which have have become tourist destinations.

These all have become tourist destinations which were inspired and restored during Imelda’s time.

Why Feb 25 is not a holiday

People have wondered why February 25 is now erased as a holiday, starting next year, by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

Was it because on February 22-25, the four-day breakaway of the RAM or Reform the Armed Forces Movement happened, where the RAM broke away from the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that culminated in the ascension to power by the late Cory Aquino on Feb. 26, which led to what was called “People Power Revolution”?

Was it because BBM did not want the nation to remember that day when the late strongman was exiled to Hawaii?

The truth of the matter is the so-called breakaway of the RAM by then Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile, now President Marcos Jr. ‘s legal adviser, together with the former Lt. Col.Gringo Honasan, who became a senator, and the late President Fidel V. Ramos, who was then PC/Integrated National Police Chief, broke away not from Marcos Sr., but from then AFP Chief of Staff Fabian Ver, who was then forming a military junta headed by himself, in the event of Marcos Sr’s demise, who was then critically ill with lupus, an auto-immune disease.

Thus, when the late Marcos Sr. called JPE over the telephone to find out what was happening, JPE told him why there was a breakaway by the RAM, which he and Gringo headed.

And the telephone was then being held by no less than BBM, who was aware of everything.

The exile of Marcos Sr. to Honolulu was another thing.

After the oath-taking of Cory as the President that gave birth to the gathering of more than half a million people composed mostly of students, priests and nuns, and civil society gathered to celebrate the assumption of Cory Aquino as the new President.

On that night, the same assembly at EDSA marched to Malacanang to oust Marcos Sr.

The Americans feared that Marcos Sr. and his family would be harmed and literally “abducted” by the mob.

Marcos Sr. and the family were flown to Clark Air Base then on to Hawaii.

There was even a talk that Marcos Sr. thought the Americans were taking him to Paoay.

That is the real story of the so-called “ People Power revolution” which was neither a “People Power” of a little over a million people nor a “revolution” but just a change of regime.

That incident made Cory Aquino “the Icon of democracy,” invented by the American and Western press..

Cory was never near Camp Crame and the EDSA incident because she was hiding at some far-flung sisters’ convent.

The nearest she got to the three-day breakaway at Camp Crame and the EDSA crowd was at the corner of Vargas Avenue and EDSA.

That was the plain and simple truth of EDSA 1.

So what was there to celebrate?