A book I needed to write

I wrote a book on Imelda –The Untold Story of Imelda Marcos in 1970. Because of that book I would live in exile for 20 years when martial law was declared. My name was in two arrest lists, one was for having written the book and the other for being the wife of a Lopez henchman.

But as fate would have it I wrote another in 1987 with the Rise and Fall of Imelda Marcos by the time time I returned. I had hoped my Imelda writing days would be over but I needed to write one more – The Verdict - a book on Imelda’s trial in New York. I hope it will be the last of a trilogy.

She is fond of saying “I was acquitted. And that’s by an American court where justice cannot be bought.” That has to be answered. Imelda should not have the last word about this trial. The trial took place in 1990. That was 26 years ago. When we moved from London to Manila we had transported our belongings which include books, notes and the daily transcripts of the trial.

When we returned to Manila, a big storm flooded our basement where I had kept these materials for writing The Verdict. There were some which got wet I had to dry them under the sun and returned to the boxes that I had used to transport them not knowing what to do with them. I certainly was not thinking of writing an entire book. I got an offer from a Japanese group that wanted to buy the entire set of court transcripts. I think there are only three sets available, one in the Federal Court of New York, the other with PCGG and the third, mine as the spokesperson of the government. Before I wrote the book I was still missing some so I compared the copies I had with PCGG and we exchanged to complete our sets. Mine is now complete. But it has been sitting with the rest of the notes, some books and pictures for a long time. I finally made up my mind to do something useful and put it together into a book that would be interesting to read. There is nothing more unreadable than legal transcripts. As with the Untold Story, I needed to choose the most appropriate theme for the times. All this I kept saying more to myself than to others.

Former Speaker JDV said to me, “you had better write it now before you get Alzheimers and lose the memory to still write a book. That did it. He was right we cannot escape inevitable effects of age. However determined one might be this is one I could not put off indefinitely.

That is how I began writing I by putting the notes together and decide on an appropriate theme. I was thinking of the title “The Sequel.” But my friend in Flipside Publishing, Honey de Peralta, chucked it out and suggested “The Verdict.” That is the heart of the book. It comes at a time when Filipinos have become sick and tired of corruption and slow justice. The culture of impunity crept in every nook and cranny of life. Corruption has always been with us and so has it with other countries. But in the Philippines, it was highlighted by the acquittal of Imelda Marcos in the trial in New York. You will see why after you read the book.

As for the theme, I have divided it into seven chapters: The Prologue, Keeping up with the Lopezes, The Affair, Imelda as the Richest Woman of the World, Imelda is Tried in New York, An Unsolved Murder, and the Epilogue.

The Epilogue is a chapter in itself because President Noynoy’s government turned out to be even worse than the Marcos dictatorship. And yet, those who did not struggle against Marcos’s martial law do not want to accept it. They deny this was the inevitable result of the failed trial of Imelda Marcos in New York. How she could have escaped conviction is also a story of the flawed American justice system. It answers several questions that have remained unanswered to many – what was the role of the friendship between Ronald Reagan and Marcos, did Marcos receive bribes from the Westinghouse, what did Imelda tell Ninoy when he came to visit her at the Waldorf Towers, did Marcos fall in love with Dovie etc, etc. These are some of the questions The Verdict asks? On the Westinghouse bribes, Marcos kept track of the installments and where they were deposited according to documents left in Malacanang but never followed up.

The Epilogue is just as important as the other chapters of the book and has everything to do with Marcos’ return to power. My daughter, Veronica who was a broadcast journalist and anchored with CNN, BBC and Al-Jazeera sought Imelda to answer some of the questions that needed to be answered. She would not give the answers. But she asked Veronica if the conflict between us would go from generation to generation. According to a press assistant, it was her children who turned down the request for the interview. She finally was able to interview her when she waylaid Imelda in Congress. It lasted for more than an hour. The interview entitled “Imelda and Me.”can be viewed in Youtube. All the fuss on Aquino’s matuwid na daan was just as misplaced. He, too turned down Veronica’s request for interview. And yet he, too had several questions to answer,

With Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte as president promising meritocracy with reward and punishment whenever apprpriate, Aquino may have to answer and we hope could look forward to an end to impunity.

The National Theater of London has begun a program to give the historical background of plays and musicals. We were invited for an onstage interview on David Bryne’s and Fat Boy Slim’s musical on “Here Lies Love“ last year. I tried to answer Veronica’s questions. It was a difficult task. I am not sure that the musical reflects the story of Imelda’s life and how it affected the history and culture of the Philippines. It is too serious to be made into a musical.

The Verdict will be launched at Fully Booked BGC today from 5.30 to 8.