The Beatles’ Manila debacle
Filipinos are known for their hospitality — to a fault, in fact. But they, too, have their limits.
RINGO Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney.
Photo courtesy of jiji press/agence-france presse
Daily TribuneFilipinos are known for their hospitality — to a fault, in fact. But they, too, have their limits.
RINGO Starr, John Lennon, George Harrison and Paul McCartney.
Photo courtesy of jiji press/agence-france presse
Sixty years ago this July, the Beatles gave a concert in Manila that resulted in the Philippines getting bad press. That ugly chapter is now immortalized in books and documentaries about the Beatles. There are also newspaper clippings and online articles that gave — and continue to give — the country a black eye. But what exactly happened at that time?
When the Beatles performed in that infamous concert in Manila, it was already the second time the group had been on Philippine shores. In 1964, the Beatles held two concerts at the Princess Theatre on Nathan Road in Hong Kong. The next leg of their tour was Australia. En route to the Land Down Under, the plane carrying the Beatles stopped at the Manila International Airport (MIA) for refueling.
The Beatles did not get off the aircraft. But commotion still ensued when Filipino fans discovered that the famous group was at the airport. That must have given local impresarios the idea that bringing the Beatles to Manila could be good business.
For about a year, show promoter Ramon Ramos of Cavalcade worked on the Beatles’ Manila concert, which was supposed to be staged at the then six-year-old Araneta Coliseum. Amado Araneta, who built the Big Dome, made the Araneta Coliseum unavailable for the Beatles because of the ticket prices: P50 for patron seats. The exchange rate at the time was P4 to $1. P50 was a lot of money then. The standard salary of a house helper was P30 a month. A teacher in a private school received P300 before taxes. The Big Dome was a “People’s Coliseum.” Ticket prices there could not go higher than P10.
The only other option after Araneta Coliseum was the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. It was a bad choice. The first show was at 4 p.m., when the sun was still up. Concertgoers had to sit under the scorching sun while watching the Beatles. Looking back, they were lucky it did not rain that day.
The ‘fifth Beatle’
Before flying to Manila, the band had a series of concerts in Tokyo. The Beatles, however, were stranded in Anchorage, Alaska, because a typhoon had swept through Japan. Tension had already started building there. The Beatles were also fighting throughout that tour with their management, led by Brian Epstein.
Epstein would eventually be portrayed as the villain in the Manila debacle. He was unofficially called “the fifth Beatle.” Epstein died the following year at the age of 32 in what appeared to have been an overdose. He later became a controversial figure, was exposed as gay, and was generally viewed in a critical light. There are books and even films about Brian Epstein, the latest of which was the 2024 musical drama Midas Man.
The Beatles’ tour manager, Vic Lewis, had flown earlier to the Philippines to iron out last-minute kinks. But Epstein took over as soon as the group landed in Manila, and all plans were derailed. Epstein always looked constipated, and the Beatles were not particularly charming. They scoffed at the security provided to protect them. This was how the Beatles described the security personnel: “They looked like gorillas.” Those “gorillas,” in their eyes, were Filipinos. They made fun of everything around them, starting at the airport.
But they did not find it funny anymore when then-Customs official Salvador Mascardo asked them to hand over their luggage for inspection. In a piece written by Nick Joaquin about the Beatles’ Manila fiasco, the article said that Mascardo told them in an authoritative voice: “You’ll go back to the plane if you don’t surrender those things.” Bravo!
As it would later be revealed, the Beatles had grown accustomed to having their hand luggage exempted from inspection in the previous countries they visited. It is said that they carried marijuana with them during their trips. That was most likely the reason they were reluctant to surrender their hand-carried belongings at the airport.
Local customs found no marijuana in their belongings. Could it have been possible that customs personnel did not recognize the marijuana in their bags? There was already a drug problem in the Philippines by then, but the drug that was illegally circulated was opium, which is different from marijuana.
Behaving badly
From the airport, they were brought to the Philippine Navy headquarters for a press conference. They behaved badly before the local media. John Lennon started barking “Woof! Woof!” when press photographers trained their cameras on them. Ringo Starr mocked everyone and playfully asked, “Shall we dance?”
After the 30-minute press conference, which left the media annoyed (the late Joe Quirino personally told me that), the Beatles were brought to the Elizalde yacht in Manila Bay. The Elizalde invitation was part of the network war. The Elizalde family-owned MBC Channel 11, which was ABS-CBN’s toughest competitor in entertainment. Hosting the Beatles on the Elizalde yacht was supposed to be in exchange for an exclusive interview with the band. But no television interview was granted. The Beatles were later driven to the Manila Hotel, where they spent two nights.
The day of the concert was 4 July, Fil-American Friendship Day, an official holiday in those days. The Beatles spent the day waiting in their Manila Hotel suite. But in Malacañang, a luncheon had been prepared for them. The Beatles said they had no prior knowledge of the invitation, although local organizers insisted that the Palace visit was part of the group’s itinerary. While the band was in Japan, in fact, the Filipino ambassador in Tokyo was said to have sent them a reminder about the courtesy call in Malacañang.
To be fair to the Beatles, they were willing to drop by the Palace, but Epstein would not let them. During their performance in the former British Crown Colony, they had also been requested to make an appearance at the 1964 Miss Hong Kong pageant but declined the invitation. When John Lennon later found out that the event was being held in the same hotel where they were staying, he went to the ballroom to say hello to the audience. But here in the Philippines, even after a couple of military officials went to their Manila Hotel suite to ask — politely — that they please show up, even for a few minutes, at Malacañang, Epstein still said no. If the President of the Philippines wanted to see the Beatles, he could come to the Manila Hotel.
The preparations in Malacañang could have been called off earlier, except that nobody wanted to be the bearer of bad news. The local promoter had also hoped that the Beatles could still be convinced to drop by the Palace at the last minute. And so, Imee and Bongbong Marcos (now PBBM) invited their friends over, along with the children of government officials. They waited for nothing.
Bad reviews
The two concerts held later that day — one in the afternoon and another in the evening — received very bad reviews. Even those who paid P50 through the nose had to watch the Beatles perform from behind a wire fence. The audio was poor, and the audience could hardly hear anything. Backstage, Pilita Corrales, who was the front act, was shoved by Epstein because, according to reports, “she was in the way of the Beatles.”
On the day of their departure, the Beatles were on their own. They no longer had security. At the airport, there were various accounts of how they were “manhandled.” They even claimed that the escalator had been turned off. Then a mob swooped down on them, and they had to run for their lives. Epstein also complained that they had to pay an enormous amount before they could board the plane. He denounced it as extortion. Government officials called it taxes.
When they got to London, they gave interviews cursing the Philippines. “President? We didn’t even know they had a president.” They also said that if they were ever to return to the Philippines, it would be to drop a hydrogen bomb — more powerful than the atomic bomb. The Beatles further warned future foreign acts against performing in the Philippines.
No Martial Law yet
To this day, there are still YouTube videos discussing the Beatles’ Manila concert. Imelda Marcos is often blamed for the ugly incident at the airport. Content creators base their comments on the horrors of the 14-year martial law regime that — unknown to them — began only in 1972. They refer to Imelda as the dictator’s wife. Of course, she eventually became one. But not yet in 1966.
Now, I’m no Marcos apologist, but let us be reminded that Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had been in office for only six months when the Beatles performed in Manila. One online article claims that the Beatles were harassed by “Marcos loyalists” at the airport. There were no Marcos loyalists yet at that time.
Analyzing the media landscape of the 1960s, newspapers most likely used Imelda in the headlines because she had always been good copy. In the Nick Joaquin article, it is stated that Imelda waited only an hour before saying that she “had other things to do.” Most likely, she was not even miffed by the Beatles’ failure to appear. She was not yet “Imeldific.”
Were the Beatles ordered to be harassed at the airport? Probably not. They were most likely roughed up by an angry Filipino mob that found the group disrespectful. John Lennon later said in other interviews that he would not even fly over the Philippines. The Beatles kept swearing off the Philippines. But not once did they acknowledge that they had misbehaved while they were here.
Filipinos are known for their hospitality — to a fault, in fact. But they, too, have their limits.