The Marcos Mythology Problem
Ferdinand Marcos convinced an entire nation he was a war hero. For decades, his medals gleamed in history books, his valor unquestioned—until someone finally checked the American records.
If you can fake being a war hero with official documents and government stamps, what else can you fake?
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
In the Philippines, our political elite don’t just have family histories—they have mythology. Bloodlines traced to Chinese pirates. Hoards of Yamashita gold. Legends that blur so seamlessly with reality that after a while, walang makakaalam kung saan nagtatapos ang totoo at nagsisimula ang kuwento.
But of all the Marcos myths—the treasures, the medals, the mistresses—there’s one story that barely surfaces. One that, if true, would rewrite everything we think we know about the family that shaped modern Philippine politics.
It’s about Imee.
The First Whisper
You’ve probably heard the rumors: Imee doesn’t look like her parents. Too flamboyant. Too loud. Nothing like the reserved Bongbong or the quiet Irene.
The usual chismis says she’s the lovechild of Imelda and Ferdinand’s buddy, former Manila Mayor Arsenio Lacson. That Imelda was already pregnant when she married FM, and they just… rode it out. Claimed her as their own.
Scandalous enough, right? A borrowed pregnancy. A political marriage covering up an indiscretion.
But that’s not the story.
Or rather, that’s not the whole story.
The Second Whisper
There’s another version. One that hardly anyone talks about. One that doesn’t just claim Imee isn’t Ferdinand’s daughter.
It claims she’s not Imelda’s either.
Sandali. Stop. Read that again.
Neither parent.
“But that’s impossible,” you’re thinking. “There are records. Carmen Navarro Pedrosa wrote about the pregnancy. There are birth certificates. Witnesses.”
Tama. But let me ask you something: Didn’t FM’s war records also have witnesses? Didn’t they also have official documents? American validation?
Pag alam mo nang gumawa ng bayani, gaano kahirap gumawa ng bata?
The Mayor and His Secret
Arsenio Lacson was everything Manila loved and feared: brass-knuckled, cigar-chomping, brutally honest. The mayor who raided Ermita massage parlors pretending to be a regular customer, who publicly sparred with Marcos on radio, who turned Manila politics into performance art.
He was also, like many powerful men, a regular sa Ermita bars after dark.
And he had a favorite.
The details blur here—names lost to discretion or deliberate erasure. But the story goes: she wasn’t just another appointment. She made him laugh. She knew which stories to listen to and which ones to gently redirect. She understood the man behind the mayor’s swagger.
And then, as these stories often go, she got pregnant.
The Crisis
Imagine the panic.
Arsenio Lacson—the crusading reformer, the mayor who built his reputation on cleaning up Manila’s underbelly—caught in the most predictable, most Filipino scandal imaginable. The man who raided the very establishments he frequented. The champion of morality with a bar girl carrying his child.
His career wouldn’t just end. It would become a punchline. Every speech, every reform, every righteous raid—retroactively transformed into hypocrisy.
He needed a solution. Something permanent. Something airtight.
He needed someone he could trust with a secret this dangerous.
The Lawyer
Ferdinand Marcos was young then. Ambitious. Recently married to the stunning Imelda Romualdez. Already making waves as a congressman, already building the legend that would carry him to Malacañang.
And he owed Lacson.
Years earlier, when FM stood trial for the murder of his father’s political rival Julio Nalundasan, it was Lacson—the lawyer—who defended him. Who helped craft the narrative that got him acquitted. Who gave the young Marcos a second chance at a political future.
Now Lacson needed a favor returned.
The two men met. The kind of meeting that doesn’t make it into official calendars. The kind where words are chosen carefully because even the walls might remember.
Lacson laid out his problem. His predicament. His desperation.
And Ferdinand Marcos—the man who would later convince a nation he was a war hero, who would turn fabrication into statecraft—saw an opportunity.
Or maybe he really did have a soft spot for the old mayor, despite their public feuds, despite Lacson’s legendary jabs during their debates.
In for a penny, in for a pound.
After all, Imelda was already stepping into a complicated situation. FM had a common-law wife, Carmen Ortega. Three children already. Imelda’s marriage was built on replacing one family with another.
What’s one more deception in a foundation already cracked?
The Performance
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Imelda, the former beauty queen, the woman who would later stage-manage an entire dictatorship’s image, suddenly became pregnant. Or at least, that’s what Manila society was told.
The timing was convenient. The announcement carefully orchestrated. Friends and family notified. Society pages printed the happy news.
And somewhere in Ermita, a bar girl’s pregnancy progressed in parallel—hidden, unannounced, erased from polite conversation.
When the time came, there was a birth. Records were filed. A baby girl entered the world as Imee Marcos, firstborn daughter of Ferdinand and Imelda.
And Lacson’s problem disappeared.
The bar girl? The story doesn’t say what happened to her. Maybe money changed hands. Maybe promises were made. Maybe she simply understood that some doors, once closed, don’t reopen.
Maybe she had no choice.
The Other Story Still Exists
Of course, the simpler version—that Imee was Imelda’s biological child but with Lacson as the father—still circulates. It’s cleaner. Easier to believe. Requires less conspiracy.
That version just needs one affair, one pregnancy, one agreement between a new wife and her husband to claim the child as theirs.
But this version? The bar girl version?
It requires orchestration. Medical complicity. Document forgery. The kind of elaborate deception that sounds impossible—until you remember this is the same man who fabricated an entire war hero identity complete with American military validation.
If you can manufacture medals, you can manufacture a child’s origins.
The Evidence (Or Lack Thereof)
There won’t be a DNA test. Walang lalabas na documents.
But there are tells.
Bongbong—reserved, soft-spoken, sometimes maddeningly monotone even when passion is required. The son who inherited FM’s calculated political instincts but none of his charisma.
Irene—the invisible sister. Quiet. Dutiful. So determinedly out of the spotlight that most Filipinos forget she exists.
And then Imee.
Imee.
Loud. Theatrical. The “Ilocandia” persona that plays like dinner theater. The sister who wore a fake university degree like it was costume jewelry, who faces controversies with the same defiant, cigar-chomping energy Lacson showed Manila reporters.
She doesn’t just do politics—she performs it. Every appearance is a production. Every scandal met with showmanship rather than shame.
Parang may dugong entertainment. Parang may dugong Ermita nights at desperate backroom deals. Parang anak ng mayor na ginawang theater ang Manila.
Parang anak ng babae na nakita kung paano gumagana ang power sa mga kwarto na hindi nakikita ng publiko.
Does Truth Even Matter?
In Philippine politics, mythology has always mattered more than documentation. We elect legends, not men. We crown families based on stories we feel are true, regardless of what records say.
The Marcos name was built on fabrication—why would their family tree be any different?
But if this story is true—if Imee really is the daughter of Arsenio Lacson and an Ermita bar girl, smuggled into greatness through a desperate deal between two of the most cunning men in Philippine political history—then she represents something deeper.
She’s not just a politician with a fake degree.
She’s the ultimate Filipino origin story: born from scandal, raised in deception, crowned in power anyway.
And maybe that’s the most Marcos thing about her.
The Question
Next time you see Imee on television—loud, unapologetic, wearing her controversies like armor—ask yourself:
Sino ba talaga ang nakikita mo?
The daughter of a dictator and his beauty queen wife?
Or the granddaughter of Ermita, raised in Malacañang, performing a role written for her before she could even speak?
Walang DNA test na lalabas. Walang death-bed confession. Walang smoking gun.
But in a country where truth is negotiable and mythology is currency, maybe the story doesn’t need proof.
Maybe it just needs to feel true.
And doesn’t it?
The Unfinished Story
But here’s the thing about mythology—it doesn’t end with revelation. It evolves. It finds new chapters.
Because if the whispers are to be believed, Imee’s story isn’t just about the past. It’s about 2028.
Word in the corridors of power says Bongbong isn’t building a dynasty for himself. He’s building a throne. And when the time comes, when the presidency shifts again, it won’t be Bongbong seeking re-election or anointing another Marcos heir.
It will be Imee.
The loud sister. The theatrical one. The daughter who inherited not Ferdinand’s calculated restraint but Arsenio Lacson’s fire—his charisma, his showmanship, his hunger for the spotlight.
Lacson never became president. He died before he could make that final leap from Manila to Malacañang.
But what if his bloodline does?
What if the bar girl’s daughter—raised as a Marcos, trained in the machinery of power, carrying the secret weight of her true origins—finally claims what her real father never could?
The presidency.
Not as Imelda’s daughter. Not as Ferdinand’s heir.
But as Arsenio Lacson’s ultimate vindication.
2028 is coming. And some ambitions refuse to die—they just wait for the right vessel.
Hello everyone, my name is Oman and I am a Middle Eastern man who has been fortunate enough to receive my education in the United Kingdom.
I am excited to share my political insights on the Philippines, a country that has been my home for the past thirty years.
Having grown up in the Middle East, I was initially drawn to the Philippines for its vibrant culture, warm hospitality, and breathtaking landscapes. Over the years, I have developed a deep appreciation for this beautiful nation and its people, which has fueled my desire to understand and contribute to its political landscape.
Living here for three decades has allowed me to witness firsthand the country's political evolution, from the turbulent times to the remarkable progress it has achieved. I have closely observed the challenges, triumphs, and the resilience of the Filipino people, which have shaped my unique perspective on its political affairs.
Through this blog, I hope to provide a fresh perspective on Philippine politics, drawing upon my Middle Eastern background and British education. I believe that my experiences and insights can contribute to meaningful discussions and shed light on the intricacies of the country's political landscape.
- The Untold Origin Story of Senator Imee - October 23, 2025
- SMC’s Infrastructure Empire: How Flood Control Unlocks Trillion-Peso Land Values in the Philippines - August 8, 2025
- Marcos’s Communication Crisis: The Price of Instability - June 6, 2025
The attack is on Imee but the hurt is on Imelda and the insult is on Ferdinand.
Same old persistent Yellowtard narrative of yore. Perspective is true and the truth is not.
You had the chance to make Leni president but you do not deserve a great leader like her.
can she lead a one eyed fucker to a blind men’s orgy?
leni, the “great” one, actually had the bestchance herself to be the president, being already THE VICE PRESIDENT.
all she had to do was make the right moves, align herself with the prevailing political sentiments, not be so consumed in her own hubris as to believe she is such a force of nature to lead a personal counter revolution to the still popular duterte.
guess which way she and her cadre of fag advisers chose to take?
leni aligned herself on the wrong side of history.
booby M, on the other hand, snaked himself on the right side of the movement, but is now , just halfway through his term, presiding over a massively corrupt and entirely pointless administration.
sneakily pulling all tricks to escape culpability, but his time will come, as it will for crispy jesus too.
leni should have bided her time, hid on her belly in the grass, like a snake.
dutertism has to run its course, like a HARD RESET to factory setting.
after that, you yellows can take over.
get some random NGO progressive fag to lead, we wont give a shit.
but you yellows were too stupid to realize that, you picked the wrong fight.
you should have embraced duterte instead.
but i doubt it, the yellows and reds having too many personal issues.
take persy”valvayot” , whose issue with duterte apparently stems from his issues with his own daddy, who probably tried to beat the living gay out of the young persy on a daily basis ,
and failed miserably.
in the meantime, bubby M is weasily sleeping on the job,
he should track down zaldy bacoco like he did alice guo and quiboloy, with 5000 policemen and heartbeat detectors.
form a bacoco fuckfinding committee, headed by abaloslos and the butt ugly torre
should ask some help from indonesian police, too.
Why does it cost billions to host the ASEAN summit? Is it another source of corruption?
‘Whispers’ as a source of a story to write something about real people are best left to the Showbiz/Gossip/Entertainment sector.
‘Whispers’ coming from dubious and unknown origin can’t be verified and validated and would only invite the curiosity and attention of the gullible.
Is there a need for GRP to compete in that domain?
Imelda already had an interview about it with Mareng Winnie Monsod in a TV show and has since put an end to that issue. Would she offer or grant a DNA test for our sake? I don’t think so. A mother knows best.
“Imee’s story isn’t just about the past. It’s about 2028.”
Did the late President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. really fake his being a war hero?
In 1986, at the height of the political campaign for the coming presidential snap election, the New York Times came out with an article, ‘MARCOS’S WARTIME ROLE DISCREDITED IN U.S. FILES’:
“Between 1945 and 1948 various Army officers rejected Mr. Marcos’s two requests for official recognition of the unit, calling his claims distorted, exaggerated, fraudulent, contradictory and absurd. Army investigators finally concluded that Maharlika was a fictitious creation and that “no such unit ever existed” as a guerrilla organization during the war.”
Other personalities sympathetic to the 1986 Yellowtard gang of collaborators – Filipino partisan historians, leftist groups, bias media organizations conniving with alleged CIA operatives disguised as US embassy officials, as reported in the Executive Intelligence Review – followed and made their move hammering the narrative… unrelenting, persistent.
Even as today, we see the likes of Yellowtard History Prof. Ambeth Ocampo giving lectures on history sources still pushing the anti-Marcos agenda. I recall in one video, he’s telling his students, with much pride, about how he scoured the books in the Library of Congress but never encountered the term “Maharlika”, obviously, referring to Marcos-led guerilla unit during the war. Was he lying or just lazy or both? Makes me wonder, why are most of our recent Filipino historians of the Yellowtard and/or communists variety?
Well, the anti-Marcos camp has ‘File No. 60’ (a collection of materials debunking the Marcos war ‘myth’ and it’s widely propagated in cyberspace)… until, we unearthed and/or discovered someone, who actually been there, experienced the war, and physically had met Mr. Marcos at a time when the whole thing is happening, had granted United Press International (UPI) an interview before he died.
Enter Retired Brig. Gen. Donald Blackburn with his oral history.
Gen. Blackburn who hails from McLean, Va. went to the Philippines as an army first lieutenant in October 1941, two months before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. He commanded guerrilla forces, under Lt. Col. Russell Volckman, ‘right to the bloody end’ of the war.
Blackburn, operated with guerrilla forces and remembers Marcos as being on the staff of Volckman, the leading guerrilla commander in Northern Luzon.
‘I guess I met him on a couple of occasions’ in late 1944 and 1945.’
‘One of reasons Volckman pulled him in there was because of his legal background. There was a tremendous amount of civil affairs problems then.’
Blackburn said Volckman ‘often would speak very highly of Marcos’s capabilities.’
During 1943 and much of 1944, Blackburn said, guerrilla forces were under instructions to collect intelligence so someone could have been a guerrilla even if he were ‘not storming Manila.’
Many records were lost in fighting the Japanese according to Blackburn. He said the question of guerrilla claims and reimbursement of receipts given for food should have been settled after the fighting ended.
Instead, claims were put off, giving rise to ‘confusion and contradictions’ with decisions being made by those without firsthand knowledge.
Lt. Col. Russell Volckman’s affidavit
He said Volckman, who also was his overall commander, sent him an affidavit in 1971 that said his unit roster that included 1,400 killed and more than 3,000 wounded, Americans and Filipinos, had been confirmed by the headquarters of the Southwest Pacific Command.
Yet, Volckman said, ‘I have been informed the revised reconstruction of the roster of recognized guerrillas was made in 1948. Personnel in my former command for reasons unknown to me were deleted from the rolls, thereby deprieving these individuals of rights, privileges and benefits of bonafide veterans.’
Army findings on the Maharlika force were ‘baloney’
The retired general said the Army findings on the Maharlika force were ‘baloney pointing to the voluminous records of Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby, intelligence chief to Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
Maj. Gen. Charles Willoughby’s recorded history
Willoughby’s three volumes on ‘The Guerilla Resistance Movement in the Philippines’ contains three references to Marcos.
One, under the heading of ‘independent Northern Luzon groups,’ refers to Ang Mga Maharlika’ ‘This guerrilla unit is commanded by Lt. Col. Ferdinand Marcos, an ex-Manila lawyer and a G-2 (intelligence) on Bataan. He is 30 years old, a first lieutenant in USAFE (the U.S. Army in the Far East) at the time of surrender. He studied law at the University of the Philippines. Marcos is believed to be in Manila directly operations of the unit.’
Another in the personalities index lists Marcos as ‘leader of the Maharlika, active in Northern Luzon since mid-1943 as an independent organization engaged largely in sabotage.’
A third reference lists 15 members of a sub unit of the Maharlika known as ‘dragon hunters’ and ‘the northerners.’ Blackburn said he seems to remember that many of the 15 belonged to Volckman’s organization.
https://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p4013coll8/id/2794/
In a website called Bataan Diary, a page ‘includes research materials and information pertaining to World War II in the Philippines and the Pacific’, a reference to Marcos can be read:
‘President Quezon’s Own Guerrillas (PQOG). Formed by General Vincente Umali, former mayor of Tiaong, Tayabas, this organization was located in Batangas, central Laguna and west central Tayabas. They were one of the better armed guerrilla organizations with as many as 7,000 of the 10,000 members in possession of firearms of one sort or another. Ferdinand Marcos reportedly started out with this group, and they maintained contact with guerrilla organizations in central Luzon, Manila and the Visayan islands. Once U.S. forces returned to the Philippines and began bombing Luzon, the PQOG was successful in rescuing a number of downed flyers and returning them to the U.S. Navy alive.’
In his 2018 dissertation titled, War and Resistance: The Philippines 1942-1944, James Kelly Morningstar, Doctor of History, wrote:
“Two of the three major collections of Philippine guerrillas records are U.S. government
controlled: the National Archives at College Park, Maryland, and the United States Army
Heritage and Education Center Archives in Ridgway Hall in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The
third is the MacArthur Memorial Archives in Norfolk, Virginia.”
“The evidentiary record actually offers some support for Marcos’ claims. On 31
March 1945, MacArthur’s General Headquarters identified Colonel Ferdinand E. Marcos,
“ex-Manila lawyer” and an intelligence First Lieutenant on Bataan, as the commander of
13 staff officers and 8,200 troops of the “ANG MANGA MAHARLIKA (The Noble Ones)” guerrillas.”
The late President Ferdinand Marcos was a guest speaker of the National Press Club in 1982 (in a C-SPAN Video). Miss Vivian Valberg, president of the club and correspondent for the Daily Oklahoman intimated to the crowd of attendees:
“We knew Marcos was a war hero. He got so many medals in World War II, that, when the young major Marcos met four-star General Omar Bradley, the general saluted him.”
CIA Director William Burns and FM’s classified World War II records
When PBBM visited the US back in 2024 and asked CIA Director William Burns if he can show him records about his father’s time working with the OSS, he was not disappointed.
Burns reportedly shown classified World War II records concerning his father’s role with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the CIA’s precursor.
“They took me to the records room and they started to show me many of the records, the reports that were given during the war that are still secret.”
“And I mean he was greater than even we realized. The things that he did, the things that — the sacrifices that he made for the Philippines.”
“Records showed that President Marcos Sr. did play a role in World War II, passing information to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) that saved many Filipino soldiers who were fighting in Bataan.”
https://globalnation.inquirer.net/248936/cia-chief-shows-marcos-records-of-fathers-role-in-world-war-ii-ambassador-babe-romualdez
“History is not through with me yet!”, Marcos Sr. said this in a 1987 Playboy magazine interview after being ousted from power.
Indeed, ‘The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.’.
yea, thats all beside the point now.
bobby M junior has already turned the family name to shit.
it will be that way for generations
when imelda croaks, there will be no public outpouring of accolades and grief.
instead people will be smiling
and clapping in the streets