Editing Imelda Marcos

|alias = The Steel Butterfly<br>Marie Antoinette, with shoes<br>Jane Ryan<br>The Muse of Manila<br>The Rose of Tacloban

|occupation = First Lady of the Philippines (1965 - 1986)<br>Governor of Metro Manila (1975 - 1986)

|goals = Avoid be prosecuted for her crimes (successful)<br>Enforce the rule of the dictatorship (successful)

As First Lady, Imelda held positions in government that allowed her to travel the world and accumulate artwork and property. The couple consolidated their power allowing them to stow away funds from the Philippine treasury. Her husband and their family was eventually forced out of office as a result of the People Power Revolution but was later given amnesty after President Marcos' death.

Despite facing numerous cases involving alleged corruption during her time as First Lady, she has yet to be imprisoned and continues to wield power. After a brief exile in Hawaii, she ran for the House of Representatives in 1996 and was elected as a representative for Leyte and again in 2010 for Ilocos Norte in which she won. Her qualities of grace and beauty along with her ability to survive upheavals has led to her being called the "Steel Butterfly".

==Biography==

The woman who would become known as the “Steel Butterfly” for her combination of fashion sense and political resolve was born Imelda Romuáldez. Her mother died when she was eight years old, and her father, saddled with a failing law practice and mounting expenses, soon relocated the family from Manila to Tacloban. She was dubbed the “Rose of Tacloban” as the winner of a local beauty contest in 1949, and she graduated from Tacloban’s St. Paul’s College with a degree in education in 1952. That year she returned to a Manila that was buzzing with post-World War II construction, a city greatly changed from the city she had known as a child. Romuáldez caught the eye of many among Manila’s business and political elites, including the mayor, who in 1953 declared her the “Muse of Manila,” resulting in her picture appearing frequently in newspapers and magazines thereafter.

In 1965 Marcos was elected president of the Philippines, and Imelda proved to be an invaluable asset. Her glamour initially had broad appeal, and she oversaw numerous beautification projects in Manila. The [[Proclamation No. 1081|declaration of martial law]] during Marcos’s second presidential term, however, signaled a change in the domestic political climate. Although Imelda remained an asset abroad, opposition politicians characterized her as a drain on the national treasury and a proponent of nepotism during her appointments as governor of Metropolitan Manila (1975–86) and minister of human settlements and ecology (1979–86).

Imelda Marcos also acted as the matriarch of a burgeoning political dynasty, with children Imee and Bongbong serving in various offices and her fashion-model grandson, Martin (“Borgy”) Manotoc, staging a run for the Manila mayor’s office. In May 2010, at age 80, she successfully campaigned for and won a congressional seat representing the Ilocos Norte constituency, her late husband’s home province. She won a second term for that district in 2013.

[[Category:Femme Fatale]]

[[Category:Living Villains]]

[[Category:Liars]]

[[Category:Cold war villains]]

[[Category:Wealthy]]

[[Category:Business Leaders]]

[[Category:Criminals]]

[[Category:Lawful Evil]]

[[Category:Successful]]