Imee Marcos

The Honorable Imee Marcos
Governor of Ilocos Norte
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 2010
Preceded by	Michael Marcos Keon
Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Ilocos Norte's Second District
In office June 30, 1998 – June 30, 2007
Preceded by	Simeon M. Valdez
Succeeded by	Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.
Mambabatas Pambansa (Assemblyman) from Ilocos Norte
In office June 30, 1984 – March 25, 1986 Served with: Antonio V. Raquiza
Personal details
Born	200px (1955-11-12) November 12, 1955 Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines
Died	200px
Resting place	200px
Political party	KBL (1980–2009) Nacionalista (2009–present)
Spouse	Tommy Manotoc (separated)
Children	TJ Manotoc (stepson) Borgy Manotoc Michael Manotoc Matthew Joseph Manotoc
Parent	200px
Residence(s)	Batac, Ilocos Norte
Alma mater	Princeton University Asian Institute of Management
Profession	Politician

Maria Imelda Josefa Romualdez Marcos (born November 12, 1955), best known as Imee Marcos, is the eldest daughter of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos and former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos. She is a Filipino politician who has been Governor of Ilocos Norte since 2010. She served three terms as Representative of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte in the Philippine House of Representatives from 1998 until 2007. She formerly belonged to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan or KBL political party, the same party that supported her father, President Ferdinand Marcos. Subsequently she joined the alliance of the Nacionalista Party of Manny Villar in support of her mother and her brother. She is the sister of Ilocos Norte Senator Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., who replaced her as the Representative for the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte.

Early life and career

Imee Marcos is the first child of Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, former president of the Philippines (1917-1989) and his wife, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez-Marcos. Both parents ruled the Philippines together from 1965 to 1985. She was born on November 12, 1955 in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. She has a younger brother, Ferdinand "Bong-Bong" Marcos, Jr., currently a Senator of the Republic of the Philippines, and two younger sisters, Irene Marcos-Araneta, a socialite, and Aimee Marcos, who was adopted and works as an entrepreneur and musician.

Marcos, who turned 10 the day after her father was elected president in 1965, grew up as a young child at Malacañan Palace, the official residence of the president of Republic of the Philippines. In an interview with Filipinas Magazine in 1999, she admitted that she was not comfortable living at the Palace because it was too confining, very formal and fixed. She also added that it is not necessarily the most appropriate place to bring up a kid but it was quite nice.

While living at the Palace, Marcos attended regular schools in Manila, then was tutored at the Palace because they found it difficult to go out because of protest rallies outside Malacañang. This she found the most boring thing that happened, to learn without classmates.

Education

Marcos went to the Institucion Teresiana (Poveda Learning Center) from Kindergarten to Grade IV where she earned First Honors. She attended Assumption Convent at Herran St. in Manila for Grade V to First Year High School where she also earned First Honors. Then, she went to the American School in Makati.

Imee, her brother Ferdinand Jr. (Bongbong) and sister, Irene had been studying in England before Marcos signed Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972. They stayed there for a few years until they finished their studies. But they came home for Christmas and summer holidays.

In England, they had to live by themselves. "We were much concerned about adopting to a new and very cold environment. I was clueless. I wasn't aware of what was going on because we were struggling to cope in England without our parents, so it wasn't very real to us that things actually changed in the Philippines in an important way," she recalls.

In London, she attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Acting and Playwriting, (with Distinction). She took up Acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, UK (with Distinction). She also went to the Convent of the Holy Child Jesus, Mayfield, Sussex, England British Kingdom (GCSE Examinations –(7) UK Firsts,(3) Seconds). Marcos completed her secondary education at Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California where she graduated valedictorian of her class.

She completed a B.A. degree in Religion and Politics at Princeton University.

After their return to the Philippines, Marcos was chairperson of the Kabataang Barangay (a youth organization). Then, she earned her M.A. in Management and Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Management in Makati. She did her graduate study in anthropology, sociology, literature, arts, history and theater at Princeton University in New Jersey and the University of the Philippines in Diliman. Marcos also studied French and Dialectical Arabic at the Royal University of Rabat in Morocco, as such she speaks ostensibly with French, Spanish, Latin, Arabic, Portuguese, aside from her knowledge about Ilocano, Waray, English, Tagalog and basic Mandarin and Japanese. She also studied Writing: screenplay; children's literature; painting and art; and interior design at the National University of Singapore College of Extramural Studies.

Imee was counsel at the Center for Legal Aid at the U.P. College of Law. She was also a consultant for corporate taxation of the Independent Realty Corp., Anchor Corp., Prime Holdings, MidPasig Realty Corp. She was columnist of The Manila Bulletin in Manila, publisher of the Filpino Film Review, publisher and editor of the Kabataang Barangay Foundation, Makati, Metro Manila, and Special consultant to the chairman of the board of ABS-CBN, RPN 9 and IBC 13. From 1979-1986, she was consultant to the minister of the National Media Production Center in Quezon City. Then, from 1981 to 1986, she was director general of the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines.

From 1975 to 1986, Marcos produced the television shows Kulit Bulilit and Kaluskos Musmos. She was director-general of Experimental Cinema of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986, and was co-producer of the films The Boatman, Brutal, and Scorpio Nights. She also wrote and produced some animation films.

Imee also held the following positions:

• Producer of Metro Magazine (1975–1986)
• Founding Chair of the Kabataang Barangay Foundation (1975–1986)
• Consultant/writer of the Children's Television Workshop for Asia and New York (1977–1979)
• President/executive producer of Renegade Filmamakers (1996 to present)

In 2007, along with some industry luminaries, Imee Marcos established the Creative Media and Film Society of the Philippines (CREAM). A year after CREAM evolved into CREAM Content Distribution, Inc., a production company that specializes in animation, game and film production. She is currently the president of CREAM.

Personal life

Marcos was once married to businessman Tommy Manotoc, an avid golfer and former professional basketball coach. They have three sons: Fernando Martin ("Borgy"), a commercial model and a DJ; Michael, a student at New York University; and Matthew Joseph, a student at Claremont McKenna College. Her stepson Tommy "TJ" Manotoc is a sportscaster and news anchor. Marcos and Manotoc are now separated.

Political career

Imee entered the world of politics as an Assemblyman from Ilocos Norte from June 30, 1984 up to March 25, 1986 together with Antonio V. Raquiza.

Twelve years later, she returned to the world of politics. She ran as Congresswoman of the 2nd District of Ilocos Norte and won. She assumed office on June 30, 1998 and ended June 30, 2007.

In the 2010 elections, she ran as Governor of Ilocos Norte against her cousin, Michael Marcos Keon, who was the governor during that time. She defeated her cousin by a landslide victory. Imee had 196,160 votes while her cousin, Gov. Michael had only 86,005 votes. She assumed office on June 30, 2010.

She was re-elected as Governor in the 2013 polls, unopposed. On October 16, 2015 she filed as a candidate for her third and final term.

Further reading

• Vizmanos, Danilo, Through the Eye of the Storm, Ken Inc., Manila, 2000 ISBN 971-8558-41-1
• Vizmanos, Danilo, Martial Law Diary: Part 1 Popular Bookstore, Manila, 2003
• Seagrave, Sterling, The Marcos Dynasty, Harper & Row, New York, 1988 ISBN 0-06-015815-8

External links

• Philippine House of Representatives
• Personal Profile
• Makati Business Club Congress Watch
• Chronicle of troubled times
• Debt, Power and Imee Marcos
• Marcos wealth issue raised in federal court
• her father's daughter
• claimants welcome settlement
• Rehabilitating a Dictatorship
• Imee Marcos urges mom to allow FM burial in Ilocos Norte
• Ferdinand Edralin Marcos