Will Imelda Marcos Get More Of Her Jewels Back?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 7th 2009 at 11:01AM

Recently the former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos turned 80 and it seems that one of her belated gifts might be the return of her jewelry. News sources in the Philippines are reporting that two jewelry collections owned by the woman who once amassed over 3,000 pairs of shoes, may be returned to her. The two jewelry collections worth around $7 million have been excluded from a government forfeiture case. One set of jewelry, the the Malacañang collection, was the only collection mentioned in Civil Case No. 141, the OSG said. It is worth anywhere from $110,055 to $153,089. The other two collections are the Hawaii collection which was seized by United States Customs when the Marcoses fled the Philippines in 1986. The Roumeliotes collection, the most expensive of the three, was seized from Greek national Demetriou Roumeliotes while he was at the Manila International Airport on March 1, 1986. You can see pictures of some of Imelda's amazing collection here. It's an impressive display of wealth and decadence.

Marcos spent her birthday last week giving rice to the poor in an area outside of Manila. She told the AFP that her "birthday wish is that I be given more health and a longer life so I can devote myself to helping the Filipino poor." She addressed the crowds while wearing a pink dress, jade earrings, jade ring and a huge diamond ring. She has said that she is nearly broke after 23 years of conflict with the government. Her husband and dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted from power in 1986 (he came to power in 1965 as president and later declared martial law to hold on to his power) and died in 1989. Imelda herself once made a failed attempt at running for president. Marcos has faced many criminal and civil cases but so far only 683 million dollars of the reported billions amassed by the Marcoses have been returned to the government.

Tags: imelda marcos, ImeldaMarcos, jewels

Filed under: Jewelry

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

just me Jul 7th 2009 11:37AM

She is a remarkable lady. I really believe all she wants to do is live a longer life so she can work for the country's poor. She's a very devote Catholic and I believe her.

Some Guy Jul 7th 2009 12:12PM

Why in the world is that woman not in prison? She was an accomplice to her husband's looting of the Philippines for decades.

zipppo Jul 7th 2009 1:54PM

Remember the old adage which goes something like — “the best revenge is to live well”? Well folks…… Imelda Marcos is living well at the age of 80 — (a) she’s in the pink of health, (b) she looks very good for her age (or for women half her age), (c) her almost 1,000 cases have all been dismissed save for only a handful which don’t seem to be going anywhere, (d) her multi-million dollar jewelry collection has been adjudged by the Philippine Department of Justice to be awarded to her due to a legal blunder committed during the Presidency of Cory Aquino, (e) her eldest daughter is a respected Congresswoman and her only son a popular Governor, (f) despite her tale that she is “impoverished, she is able to live in a duplex Penthouse in the most expensive district of Manila overlooking the Manila Golf Club and the Manila Polo Club, and (g) is a permanent fixture at social events and lavish parties whisked around in her BMW 7-Series limousine.

And her enemies? They're gnashing their teeth and shouting that she should be put in jail and burned at the stake. After all the sh*t that she’s been through and after all the sh*t thrown at her, whether or not it is an act of revenge on her part and whether or not it is justified under karmic law, NOBODY can dispute the fact that IMELDA IS LIVING HER LIFE WELL.

And we all just have to live with that fact. A lot of us may not be able to grin about this, but everyone just has to bear it.