THE MARCOS MANSION Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Hello, everyone!
From Pagudpud, we travelled going to Batac, Ilocos Norte to visit the Marcos Mansion and Museum. According to our guide, this is the town where Ferdinand Marcos spent most of his childhood. That made me very curious to explore this house because a great leader of our country was raised here. It would be nice being immersed to his environment, his safe haven, his home.
I was very excited to see what was inside the house but the beauty of the outside was also worth checking. The very green and healthy ornamental plants made the place very inviting and refreshing at the same time. I spent maybe 10 minutes to check the exterior parts of the mansion, and I was very pleased of what I saw.
The house from the outside looks old but since it was clearly and properly maintained, it still looks very pleasant, neat, and livable. But, this huge building is now converted to a museum, to store important story of our country and the story of Ferdinand Marcos as a leader.
I was very glad that I was able to visit this place because I really wanted to feel what it is like being inside the house of a Marcos. I was not able to do that in the MalacaƱang in the North because it was tempoararily closed. Well, I did not know exactly why I want to experience that, maybe because the National Elections was nearing during our visit and his son, "Bongbong Marcos" was a strong running candidate.
The elementary books told us that Marcoses were very cruel and very corrupt leaders. But, as per my mother, she said that she felt very safe and secure during his presidency. So, it somehow changed my perspectives about him and his clans. I admired him more when I read these words from him...
And if and when my commonwealth demands that blood, to cleanse her name of any crime, to free her hands for justice, and give her strength to face the world with pride, I will gladly shed that blood, burn in sacrifice, and own whatever crime, even if it be not mine. When my motherland calls for this holocaust, I shall lay down all hopes and dreams, all love and life, and for her die a thousand deaths and more, and yet live with her and in her pride. - Ferdinand E. Marcos
The Inside
We were greeted by this very spacious room as soon as we entered the house. It has a very shiny red floors. There is a carpeted staircase going to the second floor. There was a long wooden chair when you enter the house, I think it was placed there so that the visitors could sit down especially if there would be many tourists visiting the mansion. Luckily, we were the only visitors when we arrived.
We saw an old picture frame of the late president Marcos, so we grabbed the chance to have a photo of it. It was kind of dim inside so, I decided to minimize taking photos of us. Instead, I wanted to know more about Marcos and his leadership through this museum.
The second floor was full of the important highlights of Marcos reign in the Philippines. As much as I would like to discuss each of them, I have not read all the write-ups because of the limited time that we were there. So, I just leave you the images and photos I took while we were there.
I find this car plates very cute. It looks very artistic to me. Then, I learn from reading this poster why 7 was being preferred to be used by Ferdinand Marcos. It was his belief that number 7 was his lucky number so he used it to have that number on anything. So that makes it even cuter because he had that belief just like the commoners.
There are also many old photographs which for me looks very classic because these photos were not edited and filtered. But it clearly taken the story of the past.
To some people Ferdinand Marcos was the worst president, but to some who experienced his help and generousity and presence he was a hero. Truly, everyone was not pleased by his leadership, but not everyone also hated it.
It was undeniably a good experience to feel the vibe of the house and to walk and stroll inside the house of a country's leader. It was also a humbling moment that I got to experience the memories of our former president.
