Imee’s bomb backfires, reviving old myths

She started the fire, but in the end, it was she who got burned. This was what happened to Senator Imee Marcos after she accused her brother, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., of being a drug dependent during the Iglesia ni Cristo rally last week. The accusation came wholesale. Aside from President Marcos, she also named in her list of “drug dependents” the First Lady, the former Lisa Araneta, their children, their close circle of friends and even actress Maricel Soriano.

Unfortunately for Sen. Imee, the bomb she detonated exploded on her. Her revelations about BBM’s supposed drug use didn’t turn the public against the President. Social media users instead turned on her. All of a sudden, ghosts from scandals past came out of the woodwork.

Even stories about Senator Imee’s elopement with Tommy Manotoc 44 years ago were retold. Manotoc’s first wife, the beauty queen Aurora Pijuan, spoke against the senator. But to be fair to Sen. Imee, Pijuan and Manotoc were already separated when she entered the scene. Pijuan, however, was still the legal wife that time. She was still Mrs. Manotoc.

Sen. Imee’s failed expose also resulted in another urban legend getting resurrected: That old rumor about her being fathered by Arsenio Lacson (and not Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.). This ridiculous story had its roots in 1953 — when Imelda Marcos joined Miss Manila. It was what today’s generation would call a “money contest.” Candidates had to solicit ballots to win Miss Manila.

In the end, it was an FEU coed named Norma Jimenez who was declared winner. But Imelda wasn’t one to accept defeat. Imelda got an appointment with then Manila mayor Lacson to file a protest. She was supposed to be accompanied by her music teacher, Adoracion Reyes, but on the day they were to see Lacson, there was an emergency at the Reyes home. 

Imelda had to see Lacson alone — and she did. At his office, Imelda cried her heart out to the mayor. Her protest was valid: there were no representatives from the Manila City Hall during the canvassing of ballots. Lacson came up with a win-win solution: Norma was to remain Miss Manila, while Imelda would be named Muse of Manila. 

Both Norma and Imelda were sent to compete in the Miss Philippines contest. They both lost to Tarlac’s Maria Cristina Galang, who, by winning Miss Philippines, earned the right to represent the country in the Miss Universe pageant in Long Beach, California. But since Ms. Galang didn’t want to wear a swimsuit in the international competition, another Cristina was sent instead — Cristina Pacheco.

The impact of that Miss Manila controversy was such (it was front page news) that the public still remembered every detail of it more than a decade later — even when Marcos, Sr. was already President of the Philippines. Marcos, Sr. had brought to Malacanang  the most beautiful First Lady this country ever had in the person of Imelda, but her arrival in the Palace stirred a rumor that traced its origins to the Miss Manila contest. 

People suddenly recalled Lacson’s hand in Imelda’s being named Muse of Manila. Could Lacson have fathered Imelda’s first-born, Imee? The basis of the rumor had a lot to do with the structural shape of Imee’s face, which is similar to Lacson’s. No one bothered to check the pictures of Imee’s grandfather, Vicente Orestes Romualdez, and his brothers, Norberto and Miguel. Even the father of the Romualdez boys, Daniel, had the same facial structure — although Imee’s face admittedly is more (most?) elongated.

This rumor about Lacson fathering Imee, of course, is absurd. The Miss Manila contest was in 1953. Marcos, Sr. and Imelda were wed in civil ceremonies in Trinidad Valley on Good Friday of 1954, followed by a church wedding at the San Miguel pro-Cathedral on 1 May of the same year.

Imelda wanted to have a baby immediately, but couldn’t seem to get pregnant. She got so worried about being barren that she had to fly to Fatima in Portugal and seek the Virgin Mary’s intercession. Her only prayer was that she and her husband be blessed with a child. Wish granted. Imee was born on 12 November 1955 — more than a year after the Marcoses were wed.

So, forget about Lacson fathering Imee. But who was Arsenio Lacson?

Good man with a foul mouth

Born in Talisay, Negros Occidental on 26 December 1912, he was named Arsenio after Arsenio Luz, who will always be credited for putting up the most colorful editions of the Manila Carnival. The life of Arsenio Luz is an interesting story in itself.

A native of Lipa, Batangas, Arsenio was the son of Manuel Luz and Segunda Katigbak, the first love of Jose Rizal.  Starting in 1922, he was put in charge of the Manila Carnival, the country’s biggest event during the time of plenty — the “peace time” years, which was how Filipinos of old best described the period. The culmination of this annual fair was the coronation of the Carnival Queen, who, in later years, was bestowed the title of Miss Philippines. 

Arsenio Luz was also a journalist, educator and businessman (he was once president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce). He was truly an accomplished and admirable person. No wonder, Lacson’s father, Roman, decided to name the future Manila mayor Arsenio. 

The name Arsenio truly suited Lacson. Media described him as “a good man with a foul mouth.” In his radio show, In This Corner, he used expletives to describe undesirable people in government. His commentaries were often laced with arsenic.

He became the 17th mayor of Manila. The city’s first mayor, incidentally, was another Arsenio — Arsenio Cruz Herrera. 

Lacson, however, will always be considered as the best mayor of Manila (he was a congressman before that). He was city mayor from 1952 until his death in 1962. His death was mourned not only by Manileños, but by the entire Philippines. 

The day after he was laid to rest (at the Manila North Cemetery), everyone tuned in to his daughter, Bingo Lacson, who was a disc jockey. That was the public’s way of sending their condolences and love to the Lacson family. 

And then Charito Solis

Lacson’s death, sadly, was tainted with controversy. He had checked in at the Filipinas Hotel in Ermita, Manila and that was where he suffered a fatal heart attack. Although Lacson was well-loved, this was how old-timers described his manner of death: “He conked out on Charito Solis.”

The truth is, Lacson died alone in his hotel room late afternoon of 15 April 1962, a Palm Sunday. No, Charito Solis was not with him when he had a massive heart attack. The rumor persisted, however, even decades after the passing of Lacson.  But why was Ms. Solis’ name dragged into this ugly talk?

The more plausible version is that Charito also happened to be in the same hotel (there were very few choices then) when Lacson died, but in a different room. The story was that Charito had again tried to end her life. The actress had always been open about her suicide attempts before she turned Christian.

When feeling despondent, she would take liquid Lysol, which she’d even measure with a spoon. Lysol was an essential item in her home because she was mortally afraid of germs. In her mid-40s, her mania for cleanliness had become legend that she was even made to endorse Lysol on television. 

Charito would always land in the hospital every time she would consume Lysol. But she’d ask her doctors to allow her to recuperate in a hotel because hospitals are full of bacteria and germs. 

The day Lacson died, she was said to have been at the Filipinas Hotel recovering from yet another suicide attempt. When news spread that the mayor had been found dead, concerned friends called her up at the hotel. She was advised to vacate her room immediately because, well, there had been rumors going on about her and Lacson.  But when she was about to leave, reporters supposedly spotted her slipping through the fire escape.

Shortly before Charito Solis died in 1998, she did admit that Lacson was a dear friend, but no more than that. He’d come over to her house to cook for her, which wasn’t unusual because Lacson also made breakfast regularly for his buddy, Jose Diokno, the grandfather of Gomburza director, Pepe.

Lives intertwined

Lacson never prepared meals for Marcos, Sr. though because they hated each other. Marcos, Sr. couldn’t stand Lacson’s cussing, especially when directed at him. Lacson, meanwhile, had always been wary of Marcos, Sr.’s political ambitions.  

Their mutual hatred for each other surprised close associates since Lacson was part of the defense panel that helped acquit Marcos, Sr. in the celebrated Nalundasan case. Lacson had just passed the bar that time when Marcos, Sr. was being tried for allegedly killing political opponent Julio Nalundasan.

The lives of these two men had always been intertwined. If Lacson had not died in 1962 (he was only 49), he would have been the one fielded by the Nacionalista Party during the Presidential race in 1965 and not Marcos, Sr. Arsenio Lacson could have been a great President, especially since he never had any corruption scandal in his 10 years as mayor of Manila.

He excelled in so many fields: sports (a “futbolista”), warfare (he fought during World War II), journalism and politics. It is so unfair that with all his accomplishments in life, the public identifies him mostly as the man rumored to have fathered Imee Marcos.