PEREZ, Ramon Florencio Jr. I.

MA Ethno – 2017T1248

Dahil Sa Iyo: The performative power of Imelda’s song

Christine Bacareza Balance

1. Is it Imelda’s musical art performance that bolstered Marcos’ political campaign and
agenda?

According to Balance, many political commentators of the time considers Imelda as

Ferdinand Marcos’ “secret weapon” in his political agenda. She says that Imelda “held the
crowd captive with her statuesque beauty and singing voice…” but it is also stated that her
voice is unexceptional. I believe that it is not the reason why she is able to bolster her
husband’s political agenda. I think the reason why she can bolster it is the fact that she used
to be a probinsyana or promdi. In her performances or palabas, it is not her voice that
touches the masses but it is her background as someone from the common masses that was
able to marry someone from the high society. She is like a commoner who married a prince
to become a queen. Her personal background is like a hope for the people that they can one
day be relieved from suffering. This hope is what she preys upon and this is the reason she
can stimulate the people. The people find themselves in her and the people feel a sense of
belonging from her because they are from a similar origin. She and the people are from the
common masses. This background is her “secret weapon” for the masses.
It might still be correct that Imelda’s voice is the “secret weapon” for diplomacy with
foreign dignitaries. Even though he voice is not that exceptional, we should keep in mind
that many ordinary Filipino singing voices are considered good overseas. This has been the
case with many Filipino singers that join different talent shows in other countries. Some of
them have ordinary Filipino singing voices but judges from other countries go crazy for
them. This might be the same with Imelda. Her unexceptional voice for a Filipino might be
exceptional for foreign dignitaries.

2. Why is the song “Bayan Ko” often sung by the masses during the People Power
movement?

As I stated in the previous question, the reason why Imelda was a “secret weapon” for
the masses is not because of her voice but because her background where the masses feel a
sense of belongingness with her being a promdi. This is also the case with the song “Bayan Ko”.
The dread that comes with the song connects to the dread that people felt in the reign of the
Marcoses during the Martial Law period. It’s the sense the sense of belongingness, but this
time, not with a person but with a song. The people find themselves in the song. The minor
chord that started the song signifies what the people are going through – the pain and suffering
in the hands of the Marcoses. The way the song shifts to a major key in the second verse also
connects to the people. The major chord, in Balance’s words, is “signaling the hopeful.” Just as
how the people connected to Imelda being someone from the province, a promdi, giving them
hope that someday they will also be relieved from poverty, it is the same sense of hope that
connected the people to the second verse of “Bayan Ko”. It is the sense of belongingness and
the thirst for hope and change that made the people connected to the song, thus it is often
sung by the people in the People Power movement, and became the theme song by protesters
and student activitists in their rallies against the dictator.

3. What has happened to Imelda’s power of palabas today?

I’m not sure if my answer will be as consistent with what the Filipino masses think about
Imelda but I leave a disclaimer that this is only my opinion about Imelda. Nowadays, when I see
Imelda cry in public, instead of feeling lament and a sense of damay for her, I get annoyed. I
believe that she has lost her performative power of palabas because her background as a
promdi has faded and was overwritten by a new background – a wife of a dictator who sucked
the country dry of riches and used the money for themselves. She, as someone who climbed
from rags to riches, is just not someone who thrives in riches taken from the masses. The
reason why her background faded in her public history is because of her public appearances of
being very Imeldific and that is not a surprise because, in etymology, the origin of the word
“Imeldific” is she herself. The word means ostentatiously extravagant, and sometimes to the
point of vulgarity. The vulgarity of her extravagance is displayed in “dazzling spectacle of the
proportion of [her]… shoe and dress collections, the debauchery of international celebrity
parties…” This vulgar display is what disconnected her entirely to the people. Because of this
vast disconnection to the masses, the performative power of her palabas when she tries to cry
in public backfires. Thus, in my opinion, she has lost her power of palabas.