Imelda Marcos

Imelda Marcos

Imelda R. Marcos (born Imelda Remedios Visitación Romuáldez on July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician and widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986. She is the first politician elected as member of the Philippine legislature in three geographical locations (Manila, Leyte, Ilocos Norte). In 2010, she was elected to become a member of the House of Representatives to represent Ilocos Norte's second district. She is sometimes referred to as the Steel Butterfly or the Iron Butterfly. She is often remembered for symbols of the extravagance of her husband's political reign, including her collection of 2,700 pairs of shoes. In 2011, Imelda Marcos has declared her net worth to be 932.8 million pesos (US$22 million), parliamentary records show, as she continues to fight the government over her assets more than two decades after her husband’s reign ended. Imelda is the second-richest Philippine politician behind boxing hero and congressman Manny Pacquiao.

Marcos was born in Manila, Philippines. Her paternal ancestors were wealthy, landed and prominent, and claimed to have founded the town of Tolosa, Leyte. The Lopez were descended from the Spanish friar and silversmith Don Francisco Lopez, originally from Granada, in the Andalusian region of Spain. Together with Fray Salustiano Buz, he arrived by way of Acapulco to build Roman Catholic missions in the island provinces of Samar and Leyte (Buz would establish his home base in Palapag, Samar, the exit-entry point of the Manila Galleons in the Visayas islands).