Imelda Marcos still alive — Malacañang

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos is still alive, Malacañang said on Thursday.

The Palace said the 94-year-old former First Lady is still doing fine after rumors about her supposed passing spread on social media while President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was in Australia for a summit.

"The circulating news about the former First Lady being dead is fake. Thank you," Malacañang told Palace reporters.

Malacañang added that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos immediately proceeded to the hospital where the Marcos matriarch was admitted after arriving in Manila from Melbourne at 11:33 PM on Wednesday.

Senator Imee Marcos said earlier this week that they admitted the matriarch of the Marcos Family in the hospital on Tuesday after experiencing fever and cough.

She also mentioned that they were taking extra precautions regarding their mother's health due to her age.

In a separate social media update, the President mentioned that she had been prescribed antibiotics to address her ailment.

“The doctors are confident that this will relieve her fever. She is in good spirits, has no difficulty in breathing and is resting well. I thank the Filipino public for their concern and prayers,” said Marcos Jr.

Imelda Marcos, renowned globally for her extensive shoe collection, is the widow of the former authoritarian leader Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Throughout her husband's presidency, she held the position of governor of Metro Manila from 1975 and served as Minister of Human Settlements from 1978 until their ousting in 1986.

She later served as a congresswoman representing the first district of Leyte from 1995 to 1998, and subsequently as the representative for the second district of Ilocos Norte from 2010 to 2019.