February 25, 2011 marked the 25th Anniversary of EDSA PEOPLE POWER 1. I cannot fanthom how time flies, in a blink of an eye, the past that was our present that long ago February are now being remi­nisced again by Filipinos all over the World. Like most Filipinos back then, I was disgusted with how the late President Marcos manipulated the votes to his advantage, the sub­sequent events cumulated in him being ousted from power. His fam­ily and him fled the Philippines and with the help of the United States were flown to Hawaii, were they lived for many years.

During the infamous People Power event, being a Woman, I was forbidden by my Parents to go to EDSA to show my support, my four brothers were our source of stories of what’s happening as they were allowed to go and join Filipinos milling around, hundreds of thou­sands of them.

I was at that time working at my first job as a Medical Representive for a Multinational Pharmaceutical Company. I covered the whole of the Manila area. One of the clinics I was assigned
to was the Malacanang clinic. The clinic is situated in the grounds of Malacanang and was quite a huge operation. There are dental and out-patient departments. The clinics sees people by the hundreds in any given day. All the Doctors and Dentists came from UP-PGH, the Doctors rotates every six months.

Two days after the Marcoses fledfor Hawaii, I visited Malacanang clinic, as to be expected, the Medical personnel were all out of sorts, not knowing what will happen to all of them, my posse of Doctors and Dentists who became my friends were also worried, one of them got a call from someone from PGH asking some of the Doctors to take an inventory of the medical equipments and drugs still in the room of deposed President Marcos.

As a lark, they asked me if I want to join the group who will go inside Malacanang. Oh course, I said, yes. They gave me a Doctors coat and four of us went. We were met by a guard at the back of the main building, we en­tered via the basement, were I saw Imelda’s gowns and shoes. The gowns were hanged high up in the ceiling, hundreds of them. The shoes were arranged in shoe racks. Now, I know people are obsess with Imelda’s shoes. I can understand that, but the ones I saw albeit there were hundreds of them, were com­binations of shoes accumulated through a lifespan of a Woman. I guess, she didn’t throw any of hers away. There were some that wasn’t used that were still in wrappers, but most were shoes, that I wouldn’t think for second to keep and will just throw away. There were some that was obviously Italian made but will never be my style. To sum it all, I wasn’t floored with her shoes col­lection.

We passed so many rooms, some that were so ostentatious, pass­ing for France nobility. We came into a hall that was filled with huge paintings of Imelda and Ferdinand Marcos. Another that was used as a Chapel that have life size replicas of Santo Ninos, there were more San­tos and Santas in that room than in any Church that I have visited. To go to President Marcos room we have to go through Imelda’s room. Her room is huge. The decor must be mostly in reds, as I remembered vividly feeling being enveloped in that hue. There were suitcases thrown all over the place, jewelries in suitcases and out in the dresser. There was a vault in the room, similar to a bank vault which was opened and you can see countless of jewelries twinkling in all colors. I was actually surprised that nobody accosted us and demanded why we were gawking like school kids. The riches in that room was staggering and nobody of importance were supervising, I guess all were still in shock and were operating in abey­ance switch.

We reached the deposed Presi­dent .Marcos room, a broom closet compared to Imelda’s. It was a very simple structure, still reeking of urine and other body fluids. It was a hospital room complete with all the medical gadgets. One can feel an aura of sadness and warped views eminating all around. I felt confused as why a great Man could end up in a small space, hidden from all, just those closes to him, were the ones who knew how truly sick he was. The others must have sense the bad vibes, as the inventory list just took minutes to finish, we were almost running out of President Marcos last refuge from everyone.
After we left Malacanang, we never again talked about what we saw that day. When someone asked me, if I joined the multitude of peo­ple who viewed Malacanang ( it was opened to the public for awhile), I usually say I have seen it, but never really told anyone how much I saw.

Fast forward to the year 2001, I was a Moderator for a Breakfast Fo­rum, one of our guest was Imelda Marcos. Chit chatting with her, I al­most blurted out that I didn’t share her taste in shoes. Well, almost, prudence held my tongue.

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