与菲律宾前第一夫人伊梅尔达共进午餐

    伊梅尔达•马科斯在普通美国人眼里就是拥有一堆漂亮鞋子的玛丽皇后。这位菲律宾前第一夫人曾是这个星球上遭受最多唾骂的人物之一，她之所以被美国人铭记主要还是因为她收藏的大约3,000双舞鞋，高跟鞋和其他名牌鞋子。

    但伊梅尔达•马科斯是一位典型的幸存者，而且在某种程度上已经恢复了声誉，她和她的家人目前又重新回到国家政治舞台的一线。1986年，在任人唯亲和腐败的重压下，她的丈夫、菲律宾前总统费迪南德•马科斯对这个国家长达20年的统治终于坍塌。1989年，身败名裂的费迪南德在流亡夏威夷期间去世。3年后，他的继任者科拉松•阿基诺赦免了伊梅尔达的罪行，允许她重返菲律宾。1994年，一家夏威夷法院认定费迪南德犯有侵犯人权罪。9,000余名遭受监禁和酷刑的受害者最终勉强接受1.5亿美元的赔偿。但马科斯家族目前仅补偿了2,150万美元。数家法庭裁定伊梅尔达隐瞒了财产，但一家马尼拉法院最近拒绝强制执行该判决。

    前不久，伊梅尔达和我都认识的一位朋友提议说他可以安排我们见一面，我当然不会错过这样的机会。我期待着当面聆听，这样一位曾经攀升到这样的高位、尔后又堕落为全世界盗贼统治的象征和笑柄、随后竟然又上演精彩复出的人物会如何为自己失去光泽的遗产辩护。

    我应邀来到马尼拉人流如织、超现代的马卡蒂商业区，在一栋高档公寓大楼的34层见到了伊梅尔达。除了她的公寓外，这层似乎还有三套其他人居住的公寓。伊梅尔达的公寓配有宽红木地板，看上去很豪华，但称不上富丽堂皇。伊梅尔达身穿一件长及小腿的绿松石礼服，头发乌黑，依然是标志性的高耸蓬松发型。84岁的伊梅尔达直立在那里，更加突显她的身高。她戴着一副“眼镜腿”（即从镜片到耳朵那部分）为橙色的无框眼镜。我请她介绍一下房间里陈列的博物馆馆藏级油画——这些油画证明她仍然极其富裕。据她描述，这些油画有两幅弗拉戈纳尔作品，一幅毕加索作品，一幅毕沙罗作品，一幅高更在大溪地时期绘制的恢弘画作，还有一幅半身像，以及一幅《圣母与圣婴》——她创造性地声称，画作的作者是米开朗基罗。

    伊梅尔达迅速指出，所有这些艺术品都是她已故的丈夫用私人储蓄买下的，尽管世人时常指控称，这些皆是掠夺政府的赃物。“我第一次见到马科斯的时候，他已经是好几家矿业公司的律师，”她说。“他那时不断地买入黄金，地下室里全是金子！我说，‘你应该把它存放在银行。’”马科斯回答说：“我打算竞选总统。我已经有了一位美丽的妻子。如果人们发现我还这么有钱，那我永远都无法成为人民的人。他们绝对不会投票支持我！”按照伊梅尔达的说法，上世纪80年代初，黄金价格从每盎司30美元飙涨至800美元，她和丈夫的净资产随之上升至数十亿美元。“我可以买任何我想要的东西，”她说。“而且我就是这么干的。”

    伊梅尔达声称，媒体非常不公正地诋毁她的声誉和马科斯政权的遗产。她说：“媒体比枪炮还要厉害，”这是她最喜欢使用的措辞之一。“枪炮最多只能把你送入坟墓，但媒体不仅能够要你的命，还让你死后不得安宁。”

    无论大家如何看待她对媒体的描绘（可以肯定地说，她的观点仍然属于少数），伊梅尔达依然在自豪地扮演着她一直扮演的角色，尽管是在一个更小的舞台上面。她声称自己既是一位女王，又是普罗大众的母亲。

    To the average American, Imelda Marcos is Marie Antoinette with shoes. Once one of the most reviled figures on the planet, the former first lady of the Philippines is remembered in the U.S. mostly for her collection of some 3,000 pumps, stilettos, and other high-end footwear.

    But Imelda Marcos is a quintessential survivor, and she has fashioned a remarkable, if partial, rehabilitation that has restored her and her family to the front ranks of national politics. Her husband Ferdinand's 20-year reign as president of the Philippines collapsed under the weight of cronyism and corruption in 1986. He died exiled and disgraced in Hawaii in 1989, and his successor, Corazon Aquino, pardoned Imelda three years later, allowing her return to the Philippines. In 1994, a Hawaiian court found Ferdinand guilty of human rights abuses. The more than 9,000 victims of imprisonment and torture eventually settled for $150 million. But only $21.5 million has been recovered. The courts have hit the estate with heavy judgments for concealing assets, though a Manila court recently ruled against enforcing the judgment.

    When a mutual contact offered me the chance to meet Imelda recently, I jumped at the chance. I looked forward to witnessing firsthand how a figure who'd risen so high, fallen to become a worldwide symbol of kleptocracy and ridicule, then staged a remarkable third act, would justify her tarnished legacy.

    I met Imelda at her apartment on the 34th floor of an upscale condo tower in the bustling, super-modern Makati business district of Manila. Her apartment is luxurious, but hardly palatial. Her place appears to share the floor with three other apartments. Imelda trods the wide-plank mahogany floors in a full-length turquoise gown, sporting her trademark jet-black bouffant. At 84, her erect posture accentuates her height. Her face is framed with rimless glasses with orange "temples" (the part that goes from the lens to the ear). I ask her to describe the museum-quality paintings on display -- evidence that she's still extremely rich. She points to two Fragonards, a Picasso, a Pissarro, and a magnificent Gauguin from his Tahitian period, as well as a bust and a Madonna-and-Child rendering that she creatively attributes to Michelangelo.

    Imelda is quick to claim that all the art was purchased with money privately accumulated by her late husband, not, as is constantly alleged, by looting the government. "When I first met Marcos, he was a lawyer for the mining companies," she says. "He was constantly buying gold. His basement was full of gold! I said, 'You've got to put it in the bank.'" Marcos replied that "I want to be president, and I already have a beautiful wife. If people find out how rich I am, I'll never be a man of the people. They'd never vote for me!" According to Imelda, she and her husband were worth billions when gold went from $30 to $800 an ounce in the early 1980s. "I could buy anything I wanted," she says, "and I did."

    Imelda claims the media unjustly blackened her reputation and the legacy of the Marcos regime. "The media is more powerful than the gun," she says, using one of her favorite expressions. "The gun can only kill you up to your grave but the media can kill you beyond the grave."

    Whatever your view of her media portrayal (and it's safe to say that her opinion remains in the minority), Imelda is still proudly playing the same role she's always played, albeit on a smaller stage. She portrays herself as both a queen and mother to the masses.