Bongbong denies 'military drag show' in 1973, but Enrile confirms it

Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos on Thursday belied reports that his mother, former First Lady Imelda Marcos, had forced military generals to perform a dance number dressed as women during the 1973 birthday party of then-President Ferdinand Marcos. "I never saw anything like that,” Marcos said in a text message to GMA News. “I remember one of my father's birthdays where the generals put on a very funny skit where they played a group of people watching a movie. It was very funny." William Sullivan, US Ambassador to the Philippines in the mid-1970s, wrote a series of blistering criticisms of Marcos Sr. and his wife Imelda in secret cables that have since been declassified and published by WikiLeaks. In one of the cables, dated September 12, 1973, Sullivan recounted a "two-day blast" of a party for Marcos Sr. that he said was at odds with state-controlled media reports that he "spent a quiet birthday at his desk." Bongbong was 15 at the time of the controversial celebration. "In general, every aspect of the occasion was too much, too long, and in questionable taste," Sullivan wrote in the report to Washington. Sullivan wrote that Mrs. Marcos instructed the military chiefs to perform "in garish female attire." "This whole affair was a saccharine suffusion of sycophancy," Sullivan wrote, according to the cables published on the website of the anti-secrecy organization this week. JPE's account But in his memoir "Juan Ponce Enrile" published September last year, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who was then Defense minister, confirmed that such an event took place, even describing it as "a very embarrassing and shameful moment." On page 392 to 393 of chapter 10 of his memoir, Enrile recounted that the six generals—Gen. Romeo Espino, then-Armed Forces chief; Gen. Fidel Ramos, then-chief of the Philippine Constabulary; Gen. Rafael Zagala, then-commanding general of the Philippine Army; Gen. Jose Rancudo, then-commanding general of the Philippine Air Force; Admiral Hilario Ruiz, then-flag officer in command of the Philippine Navy; and Gen. Fabian Ver—were indeed asked to perform wearing artificial straw skirts and high-heeled shoes. "They had garlands around their necks and they were wearing bras to complete their costumes. Their lips were painted red with lipstick," Enrile recalled. "The band played a Polynesian tune, and the six generals danced the 'hula.' They wiggled and sashayed in front of the guests with their hands raised and rolled above their shoulders," he added. Enrile said while Mrs. Marcos and her "retinue of Blue Ladies and their husbands" laughed, other guests sat still and remained quiet. He said he felt they were "neither amused nor comfortable with what was going on." "Seeing the senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines with their skimpy female attire dancing the 'hula' was, to me, a very embarrassing and shameful moment. The top military leaders of the land were the object of fun by the First Lady. The scene was pathetic, ridiculous and disgusting," he recalled. "This thought would continually haunt me through the martial law years," Enrile added. — Amanda Fernandez/KBK, GMA News