Last year, as the anniversary of the declaration of martial law in 1972 approached, I noted how we and the government seem to have gotten tired of running after the Marcos loot, whereas the Marcoses haven’t. The Marcos heirs are still occupied tracking down bank accounts in Europe and elsewhere. A more recent tack has been to use the courts and other state institutions like the Securities and Exchange Commission to wrangle a share of the various companies owned by Lucio Tan and the GMA Network, based on the claim that the late Ferdinand provided the capital for or acquired shares in these enterprises.

Well, it seems that not only the Marcoses are trying to cash in on the contested wealth. Spammers are squeezing the Marcoses’ legendary billions of whatever the story is worth.

E-mail spam is pesky, but this one I received from imeldamarcos2007@cantv.net was one I couldn’t resist opening.

Here it goes, wrong spelling and all:

"Hello, VERY CONFIDENTIAL PLEASE

I am mrs. Imelda Marcos, a Filippino by nationality, widow of the dictator and former President of Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos who in February 1986, forcing him and his family to flee to Hawaii, where he died in exile in 1989. Honestly I would like to have an investment and confidant relationship with you, as now I am broken hearted and needs someone to trust, without remembering my past and forsaken experiences from close confidants and family.

Presently, I was at the court detension where I alledgedly represented an accussation of 32 charges of illegally transferring wealth out of the Philippines during my husband 20-year rule and the Court on 10th of March came after a 17-year trial in the case, involving some $863 million in Swiss bank accounts which has been frozen by the government and is being held in escrow at the Philippine National Bank. This below newsite could as well help you know the present situation i am going through now. www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/03/10/marcostrial.html%3Fref%3Drss+dictator+...

All i want from you is to assist me make claims of some funds, one trunk box deposited in a trusted company, content cash amount of US$23.5M united state dollars being deposited as this was the money that was supposed to be used by my husband to acquire some properties in Europe. I will forward the depository documents to you in my next mail for your perusal. All, I want from you, now is honesty and sincerity, all major cost including shipment charge, demuurages charges have already settled.

Contact me urgently for more details.

Thanks,

mrs. Imelda Marcos"

Spam on Imelda is the best proof that she remains associated with ill-gotten wealth, despite the deceptive allure of a thousand shoes and glamour connoted by the now sanitized term imeldific. She’s very much at par with other real and fictitious widows and orphans of corrupt leaders, heirs of deceased bankers, etc., providing beef for spam mail.

According to a 2005 entry in www.fraudwatchers.org: "The ladies who lose their husbands and then send emails out all over the internet looking for help now that their husband is dead is a long and distinguished [!] list of former first ladies and widows of now deceased world leaders."

The list includes Mariam Abacha, wife of Sanni Abacha, who was the Nigerian head of state for five years before his death; a Mrs. GuéÃ, former wife of Robert GuéÃ, military ruler of Ivory Coast from December 1999 to October 2000; a Mrs. Sese-Seko, former wife of Mobuto Sese-Seko, the President of Zaire; and not be outdone, a Mrs. Luisa Estrada, wife of another former Philippine president, Joseph Ejercito Estrada (although he’s very much alive)!

What do these women have in common? They were all First Ladies of corrupt rulers in poor countries. (Who knows, a certain First Gentleman might join the club soon.)

The irony of the Marcos riches and Filipino poverty has not been lost to many. A certain Brian Gothong Tan plays this up in his 2:36 minute video clip called "Imelda goes to Singapore" -- available at www.youtube.com. Dressed in butterfly sleeves made from plastic grocery bags but fully coiffed and made up, "Imelda" here is a domestic helper belting "Dahil sa ‘yo" as she went about her domestic chores.

The film, featured in a Singapore Biennale event in 2006, is a sardonic statement on the plight of Filipinos forced to find jobs as domestic workers abroad for a measly $300 a month, while their government officials wallow in stolen wealth.

One of the defunct "On the Television" sitcom series was titled "Our maid Imelda". The sitcom featured a spoofed Imelda working for a rich Beverly Hills couple to help pay off her debts. In one scene, the mistress was kindheartedly commiserating with her lost billions. Imelda, wearing a pink butterfly-sleeved dress topped by an apron, shot back: "Who says it’s gone? Maybe it’s just hidden."

The saga of the Marcos wealth drags on, with fiction apparently getting the better of facts and the Filipino people’s money receding farther away from their reach, as each anniversary of the declaration of martial law goes by.

***

A fund-raising concert and show will be held at the Rasac Sports Complex, Rizal Avenue, Manila, on 27 September at 7 pm, to support the revitalized, award-winning Ship 3 Trozo Drum and Bugle Corps of the San Jose de Trozo Parish in Manila. For more information, contact Mr. Fernandez, 09195574747.

E-mail: mcf178@yahoo.com