Lorli Villanueva has been a friend of many years, making waves in Philippine show business, and once winning Best Supporting Actress in 1972 for the film Lupang Hinirang for the Metro Manila Film Festival. She flew to the US as a Fulbright Hays scholar in Communication Studies, then was offered a high position that she still holds today, at the Touro college in Manhattan. We would visit her in the US whenever we could, unknowing that she had experiences in the past that she was now ready to reveal in a book titled Dancing with the Dictator. Below are excerpts from the book:
“Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos was at the height of his fame or infamy to the world. He had full control of the country, declaring Martial Law on September 21, 1972, after two presidential terms. His equally infamous First Lady Imelda Marcos was rumoured to have her own private army… Crime came down as curfews were imposed. Progress seemed everywhere.”
Lorli goes on to detail how she came to meet Ferdinand and Imelda, how a connection was General Ver, a classmate of her late father. One day, General Ver called her saying the president was inviting her to the Palace. She said she had a scheduled shoot for a film with Joseph Estrada and Vilma Santos. The next thing she knew, her shoot had been cancelled, she was picked up, brought to the presidential ship RPS Pangulo, and they were sailing away in the company of the president.
This was not Lorli’s last time at the Palace. Another time was when she spent three days carousing, eating, drinking and dancing. She writes: “I was very happy and almost elated when the President asked me to dance with him…It was fun and my guard came down. The President was a charming dancer. I loved dancing, and my laughter and smiles were real by then. We went on dancing the swing, then the boogie, and more. For a moment I forgot my fears and worries and was beginning to enjoy the night.
“Sometime midyear 1982, Marcos invited all Fulbright Scholars to a reception at the Palace… I was proud to be a part of such an elite group of professionals known for excellence in their fields. Seated a few armchairs away was a quiet little nun whom no one could ever miss! I was in the room with Mother Theresa!... What could Mother Theresa want from the president! Or did the president send for Mother Theresa! After all, Marcos was now known to be very sick but which however was being fervently denied by the administration. His glassy eyes undeniably exposed a very sick man.”
As a writer and journalist, the story of Dancing with the Dictator showed an interesting and well-balanced view of President Marcos, his much-vaunted brilliance and charm, and his having planned his destiny which included marrying Imelda, and creating a blueprint for the Philippines to become the Tiger of Asia. He almost succeeded. What he didn’t plan on was getting sick which derailed all his plans.
To those who have enjoyed this story, Lorli has just completed two other stories she has sent to us. One is A Teacher’s Tale, a most incisive look into the educational system both in the US and in the Philippines. The other is Black Holes, a personal account of how one can fall several times, pick herself up and find contentment in the end. It is the most heart-wrenching of stories we have read in a long while.
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