Category: marcos

Imee, EDSA, Venezuela

Hindi lang pala si Imelda, pati si Imee Marcos ay sinasabing kinidnap sila, when asked by Karen Davila to comment on “what the U.S. has done to Venezuela.”

IMEE MARCOS: … There’s a personal history here. And that’s 1986. As far as my father and my family were concerned, nakidnap kami. Napunta kami sa Anderson Air Base in American planes. We ended up in Guam, thereafter in Hickam Air Base in Honolulu. As far as my father was concerned, it was an outright kidnap. … Hindi ko sinasabi na eksaktong pareho, pero nangyari. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvbUBPhpl44 

Imee’s take is worth noting because EDSA history tells us that on Day 4 Feb 25, around 6:30 p.m. when the US choppers were already on the way to the Palace to pick them up, it was clear that Marcos indeed had no wish to leave the country but Imee and Irene wanted to.

The President’s daughters were in tears pleading with their father to make the departure for the US. They reasoned that they could not possibly come out of the situation alive, and their children, the President’s grandchildren, were with them. The Last Hours by Fe Zamora. Mr. & Ms. Mar 21-27 1986

In fact, according the Lewis M. Simons, their husbands had started packing up very early that morning of their last day in the Palace. https://edsarevolution.com/

Marcos’s two sons-in-law were supervising the packing of dozens of crates of family possessions, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold bullion and bonds, more than a million dollars worth of freshly printed pesos, as well as artifacts and jewels. These were delivered by boat to a bayfront lawn adjacent to the US Embassy. Weeks earlier, a number of bulkier items, mainly large oil paintings and other works of art, had been packed and shipped out of the country at the direction of the First Lady.

There was little sleep in the palace that night as aides scurried from room to room, sifting through cabinets and boxes filled with documents, receipts, letters, many of them incriminating. Imelda Marcos was able to provide little advice to her husband. She seemed dazed, drifting in and out of her private chapel where she knelt and prayed. Marcos’s son Bongbong and General Ver were arguing desperately with him to stay and fight. 297-298

So really, I imagine that when the Palace escapees had to stopover in Clark for the night — wala daw kasing runway lights sa Laoag Airport — and the next morning found their American saviors under orders to fly them all out of the Philippines, I imagine that no one was happier than the daughters.

Makes you wonder if she’s now complaining about being “kidnapped”?

Kinidnap nga ba #Marcos86 #Duterte2025

Since Maduro‘s “cowardly kidnapping” by the U.S. a few days ago, nabuhay ang mga paratang na si Marcos Sr din ay kinidnap ng America noong Feb 1986, at si Duterte ay kinidnap ng MarcosJr admin at isinuko sa ICC noong Mar 2025.

kidnap verb: to seize, detain, or carry away a person by unlawful force or fraud, often to hold them prisoner for ransom or in furtherance of another crime; essentially, stealing a person, taking someone against their will. synonyms abuct, seize, snatch, or capture

No debate, Maduro was kidnapped. Read Reuters‘ “Mock house, CIA source and Special Forces: The US operation to capture Maduro”.  https://www.reuters.com/

But please, not Marcos in ’86, kahit pa iyan mismo ang bukang-bibig ni Imelda nang nasa Hawaii na sila, na kinidnap sila ng mga Kano, na ang usapan ay sa Paoay sila dadalhin, desidido kasi si Makoy na mag-regroup ang AFP loyalists sa Ilocos, the plan was to retake Manila — which would have meant bloodshed, mapapalaban ang People Power. When Cory was warned, she asked the Americans to take him away and the Americans agreed and Marcos had no choice. Marcos’s mistake was to accept the Americans’ offer of help to escape the palace and to take them wherever they wanted. He could have flown to Paoay under his own steam. Presidential choppers had been on standby since Day 3 Feb 24.

And please, not Duterte in 2025. He was arrested and taken to The Hague to face charges of crimes against humanity. He knew it was coming. Duterte’s mistake was: umuwi pa siya. He was already in Hong Kong for that rally. We all imagined he was asking China for asylum and so it surprised us all na umuwi pa siya. China said no kasi? He had no other options? Hubris? He was assured perhaps that PBBM wouldn’t dare? At the end of the day he went along and climbed up that plane with no resistance and minimum assistance.

Kung tutuusin, yung kay Maduro ay pinaghandaan nang bonggang-bongga ng mga Kano so much so that the safe house proved unsafe and it was all out of Maduro’s hands. Pero yung kay Marcos hinged on his mistake of accepting the Americans’ offer of an escape route out of the Palace. At yung kay Duterte hinged on the mistake of coming home pa from Hong Kong. Kumbaga, from the frying pan into the fire.

Imee’s last-ditch effort for Duterte

After the initial shock of seeing, hearing, Imee Marcos on stage sa INC rally at her dramatic worst yet, publicly lambasting her brother for alleged drug addiction and pleading that he leave public office and seek treatment because she couldn’t bear it if she were to lose him…. I could only marvel at the desperation — ang lalim, at ang haba, ng hugot, harking all the way back to martial law and metrocom times, which only reminded of Archimedes Trajano, doesn’t she realize?!?

Like Philippine Star editor Amy Pamintuan, I have yet to see PBBM acting or looking like he was high or stoned in any of his televised appearances.

AMY: … I learned to spot people high on drugs, or who were addicted. The habit takes a visible toll on the body. So far, I haven’t seen either BBM or his wife in a public engagement with bloodshot eyes or looking, talking or behaving like they’re high on drugs. https://www.philstar.com/

On the other hand, I certainly have memories of the former President Rodrigo Duterte stumbling, talking weird, looking half-asleep, barely paying attention, like he was high or stoned on something or other, remember? even if DDS propagandists seem to have forgotten, deliberately, as if the current mess only started with BBM and it’s all his fault, the floods, the corruption, the economic crisis. As though Duterte never happened.

And yet I have no doubt that Imee’s meltdown is Duterte-related. Matagal na siyang kinukulit ng mga DDS to confirm the “vangag” allegations, thinking that it would be enough to inflame a critical mass that could compel BBM to step down, especially since the “kidnap” and rendition of Duterte to The Hague. Marami ring nagalit sa kanya because she wouldn’t do it, and I actually thought she never would because, you know, family — blood is thicker than water and all that.

But now that she has given in, spoken out, what flashed through my mind was a VP Sara speech back in June, noong bitbit niya si Imee kung saan-saan, Qatar, The Hague, and finally Malaysia, addressing OFWs and referring to Imee as her “hostage”.

MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Sara Duterte has challenged Sen. Imee Marcos to bring Rodrigo Duterte back to the Philippines, noting that it was the senator’s brother, President Marcos, who had ordered the former president arrested and turned over to the Interpol and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

“I always invite Senator Marcos wherever I go. I brought her along because I told her, it would not be me who will bring former president Duterte back to the Philippines because it was your brother who sent him to The Hague. You should bring him [home] to the Philippines,” the Vice President said in her speech during the 127th Independence Day celebration in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Vice President said Imee will remain as her “hostage” until her father is released. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/

It’s been eight months since Digong was arrested and detained in the Hague, and there doesn’t seem to be much hope left of a homecoming. Kaufman has been doing what he can to delay the confirmation of charges, from interim-release request to lack-of-jurisdiction challenge, and lately the mental-unfitness claim which, even if proven true, won’t mean Digong would be released just like that. He would remain in custody, undergo treatment, and every 120 days he’d be tested again, and again, just in case his mental unfitness is temporary, or something like that. https://www.abs-cbn.com/

Back in August, Kaufman was also wanting to speak with PBBM about negotiating the return of Duterte to the Philippines. The thinking seems to be that PBBM, if he cared to, could prevail on the ICC to let him take custody of Digong, and let Philippine courts hear and decide the cases against him and his accomplices. But because PBBM won’t play along, their only recourse is to  remove him somehow and install Sara in the Palace, from which vantage point she could try her damndest to harass the ICC into releasing Digong, maybe with the help of tyrants Trump and Netanyahu.

In fairness, Imee for her part did hold those Senate hearings on the irregularities attending Duterte’s arrest, and then there was that Senate resolution relayed to the ICC requesting house arrest for the former president due to health and age concerns. But all ineffectual, as in, walang epek. She must have been under pressure to do something more, try harder.

Then came the flood-control corruption scandal. Parang heaven-sent siguro, the chance to charge BBM himself for corruption, and Zaldy proved to be the willing balimbing but his paputok videos proved to be duds, raising more questions than answers. Imee had no choice but to step up, give it her best shot, while the INC JIL KOJC UPI DDS peeps were still out in the streets, maybe get them sad angry agitated enough… except that INC cut short the protest rally after her speech and sent the people home instead.

Bottom line, Imee did it not out of love for country or family, rather, out of utang-na-loob kay Digong for the Libingan ng mga Bayani favor, which happened almost exactly nine years ago, she managed to remind in that very disjointed overwrought speech. So, yes, yun pa rin ang puno’t dulo, the hero’s burial, which makes me wonder if it was worth it. What if they had settled for an Ilocos burial instead. Then Sara would not be holding Imee hostage.

Firing Torre

Read “Big questions on Torre’s ouster” by lawyer Joel Ruiz Butuyan.

A reading of the laws governing the Napolcom (Republic Act No. 6975 as amended by RA 8551) does not show that Napolcom possesses the power to review and overturn the PNP chief’s assignment of police generals to top brass positions, as claimed by the agency. The powers of Napolcom are primarily for “policy and program coordination” and administrative disciplinary proceedings against erring police officers. Its “administrative control and operational supervision” over the PNP are clearly for the limited purpose of developing policies and promulgating rules and regulations,” which do not include the power to review and reverse designation or transfer of officers made by the PNP chief to high-ranking positions occupied by colonels to generals, contrary to Napolcom’s claim.

… However, the President’s decision to remove Torre as PNP chief is valid because the President has absolute discretion to appoint and remove the PNP chief. But there are big and gnawing questions: Was the President misled into believing that Napolcom possesses the power to review and overturn the PNP chief’s designation of top officers, and that Torre blatantly violated the agency’s exercise of its powers? Did Napolcom overturn Torre’s reassignment of officers upon direct orders of the President?

Makes you wonder what’s really going on and if there’s any truth to The PH Insider story shared by MaxDefense Philippines on Facebook that Torre’s sudden removal has to do with his “refusal to sign a Request for Endorsement and Budget Support to Congress for an additional Php8 billion funding for the PNP for the acquisition of 80,000 units 5.56mm assault rifles for FY2026”?

The justification for such acquisition was said to be due to the PNP now focused on taking-over internal security operations from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, in which the PNP currently has capability gaps in terms of many aspects including firepower, and that its current inventory of rifles are insufficient.

The report said Gen. Torre refused to sign as he believe the acquisition is excessive for a civilian agency like the PNP, which had him in disagreement with Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Sec. Jonvic Remulla.

Meanwhile the DDS are on celebratory mode, which makes you wonder if firing Gen. Torre is some kind of concession to the Duterte camp that heartily hates the fired PNP Chief for the Quiboloy and Digong arrests.

REGINE CABATO:
Facebook 26 August 

The DDS are having a field day with news of police chief Nicholas Torre’s dismissal. My disinformation-related take: Not only does it send mixed signals about the Marcos administration’s commitment to human rights-related reform, but they have also thrown to the trolls one of its most high profile officials capable of tackling the pro-Duterte disinformation machine.

Just last week, Torre exposed an organized smear campaign against the police. He pointed to a coordinated attempt among DDS vloggers spreading viral video to depict “lawlessness” in the Philippines. But these videos were from Indonesia and Vietnam, and the one video from the Philippines was taken out of context. What does this mean? There is an organized attempt to make crime in the Philippines look worse than it actually is, all toward: 1) campaigning for a Duterte return to power, and 2) spreading the ideology of killing, as opposed to reform, as a solution for crime.

Torre’s publicity stunt against Baste Duterte last month was another rare moment: he was seen as standing up to a bully, successfully fundraised some PhP 20 million for flood victims, and won some amor among soft Duterte supporters. (I’ve seen comments going: ‘I’m a DDS, but Baste was wrong this time…’)

Torre has proven himself to not only be efficient in tasks that few others would have gamely executed — particularly the arrests of Duterte and Quiboloy — but in a skill so many of our public figures lack: seizing the narrative in a Duterte-driven information ecosystem.

He turns defense into offense, and it sends DDS trolls scrambling, which is why they dedicate so much of their time making transphobic video reels that liken Torre to social media influencer Diwata, in an attempt to emasculate and undermine him. The flooding of laugh news reactions on news items about his dismissal, and the gleeful comment of senator Imee Marcos about karma, show that the Duterte disinformation machine does not rest.

Torre being out of the way after pushing for the takedown of 1,000 fake news posts allows the Duterte machine to recuperate, and the curtly worded dismissal letter gives trolls and vloggers another bullet for their smear campaign. This also raises questions about whether the next police chief will make similar commitments to information integrity among and affecting its ranks.

The smear campaign against Torre should not be taken in isolation: it is part of broader smear against career officials in law enforcement, including the military and coast guard, because the DDS machinery wants Duterte loyalists in these positions instead. The script against Torre is also being levelled against AFP chief Romeo Brawner, PCG spokesman Jay Tarriela, and so on. This script includes accusing them of being foreign hacks or sympathizers, using distraction to undermine reform, and it comes from the same influencer talking heads of the DDS sphere. The accusation that Torre, et al are ICC or U.S. puppets is especially hypocritical and ironic, given that these pro-Duterte networks have been found to have ties to China.

These DDS online reactions are not, of course, a clear indicator of the true pulse of public opinion. But they are an indicator that Marcos is losing the optics war.