Ferdinand Marcos is one of the most famous sons of the Ilokos region. Probably, one cannot find a Filipino who doesn't know who he is. Former president of the Philippines and dictator, along with being fiercly intelligent and aggressive in his political reign, his name almost always often represented the villainous dictatorship in the Filipino context. Although recently, I have been noticing a lot of bold, some may call it brazen, Marcos fanatics' sentiments emerge from social media. I don't claim to have the slightest clue about politics and the people, but I wondered if some are suddenly realizing how "good" the social system was during his time in comparison with the present. I don't have the slightest clue about politics, but I know whatever "good" this regime brought, it cannot outweigh the horrors it contributed to history.
I aplogize. I digress: this is not a blog about political agendas and analyzation of how Filipinos view and treat politics. A few years after his exile spent in Hawaii, Marcos died of lung, kidney, and liver complications. The government of President Corazon Aquino denied his return to the country thus, his remains was kept sealed in an air-conditioned mausoleum on Oahu, Hawaii. When Fidel Ramos became Aquino's successor, President Ramos granted permission for Imelda Marcos to bring her husband's body back here in the country. But she demanded that he be buried in the National Heroes Cemetery in Manila. President Ramos denied her insistence. Until such a time comes that the government will yield to Imelda's demands, the Marcos family had Ferdinand Marcos' body preserved and sealed in his hoemtown, Batac, Ilocos Norte for public display. And that was where we woke up to one hot and sunny afternoon in Batac City.
The Marcos Museum and Mausoleum houses both the preserved body of former president and dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, and his memorabilia. Sadly, we only got to see the mausoleum and not the museum. Although it is open to the public, there is still a specific schedule of when the doors to the mausoleum will open. We got there at half-past noon and the place is still closed. According to Kuya Allan, the doors open at 1 pm so we had time to roam the grounds and to take pictures. Some of us took the opportunity for a quick no-bump nap.
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When the doors finally opened, we went inside and was greeted with some kind of...Gregorian chant playing in the background. It was a bit creepy since the walls were entirely covered in black, too. I remember reading somewhere that the room was large. It's not. It's very small, actually. In the middle, enclosed in glass, was the perfectly preserved, almost wax-like, remains of the former President. A few meters from it are ropes cordoning the crypt off from the walk-way--the only area the visitors are allowed.
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| The doors to the mausoleum |
And that was basically it. I can understand why some people are questioning the authenticity of the body, claiming it's just a wax replica. Because seeing it in the flesh is surreal. The body was too perfect even considering it was preserved. But according to my research, Frank Malabed, Marcos' mortician, confirmed that the body was indeed real and it took him a lot of time to restore it into something the Filipinos will recognize. He noted that the body had edema and was devoid of hair when Marcos died.
The first thought that came to mind when I first step foot in the area was, "It really happened." I know it sounds absolutely foolish. Of course it happened. But I never get to witness or experience the Martial Law or the uprising that ousted Marcos the dictator from power. I've only ever read about it on history books and seeing Marcos in the flesh made everything real. The not-so distant past is lying inside a glass crypt right in front of me. But more importantly, more than the pseudo-cadaver inside that creepy crypt, the scars this family left behind to the Filipino people painfully lingers--reopened, re-visited, and will forever live in Philippines' history as a time of darkness.
UPDATE, 2016:
UPDATE, 2016:
As transparency, I'm updating this post this year because of the dark times that have been happening around the country in relation to the Marcoses. Yes, I labelled it "dark times" because of how this oligarch is inching their way up again to power--something Filipinos have been fearing. I feel the need to update this blog because I've realized key mistakes or misinformation (by being vague) from this post (edits made are in strike-through and/or red). I also need this blog to reflect even a little bit of my opinion so my few readers know my stand on this. To put it simply: Marcos is not a hero.
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