Maria Imelda Josefa Remedios "Imee" Romualdez Marcos-Manotoc[5] (locally [ˈaɪmi ˈmaɾkɔs]; born November 12, 1955) is a Filipino politician and film producer serving as a senator since 2019.

[6] Imee Marcos' political career began during her father's martial law regime, becoming chairperson of the Kabataang Barangay (KB) Foundation in 1977[7] and a member of the Batasang Pambansa in 1984.

It was during her KB term that activist Archimedes Trajano was abducted, tortured, and murdered in 1977 shortly after publicly questioning her appointment to the office.

[22] These holdings were defined as "ill-gotten wealth" by the Supreme Court of the Philippines, and are the subject of repatriation efforts by the Presidential Commission on Good Government.

These rallies, met with military assaults resulting in numerous Filipino deaths, were a response to her family's enduring conjugal dictatorship that spanned over two decades.

[40][41] In the book Some Are Smarter Than Others, author Ricardo Manapat reveals that after the EDSA revolution, investigators from the Presidential Commission on Good Government found out that Marcos's tuition, US$10,000 monthly allowance, and the 18th-century estate she stayed in while studying at Princeton was paid for using taxpayer money that could be traced partly to the intelligence funds of the Office of the President, and partly to some of the 15 bank accounts that the Marcoses had secretly opened in the US under assumed names.

[44] Imee Marcos's time as a student at Princeton became a public issue once again in 2018, when she filed her candidacy for the Philippine Senate in the 2019 elections.

[42][43] In addition, she had stated in her curriculum vitae during her stay in the House of Representatives that she had graduated with honors from Princeton with an "Independent Major in Religion and Politics".

[31] A viral Facebook post later circulated in the social platform, claiming that Imee graduated from the University of the Philippines in 1983 as class valedictorian.

[52] According to former UP Law dean Froilan Bacungan in the book The Turning Point: Twenty-six accounts of February events in the Philippines:[4] "There was indeed some kind of a ceremony held which looked as if she graduated.

...I allowed her to enter the College of Law in spite of the fact that she couldn't present a certificate proving that she had a bachelor's degree which was the basic requirement...

[59] As the mid-1980s approached, the collapse of the Philippine economy forced government to reduce the budget of the ECP, and to raise funds, it began screening what critics deemed skin flicks, which were called "Bomba" or "Bold" films in the local slang.

[60][self-published source] At around this time, Imee Marcos promoted Johnny Litton, who had been deputy director general to chief executive officer of the ECP under her, and Litton's decision to screen extremely explicit films such as Scorpio Nights (Regal Films), Company Of Women (Athena Productions, Inc.) and Hubo (lit.

"On August 31, 1977, Archimedes Trajano, a 21-year-old student of Mapua Institute of Technology, attended an open forum with Imee Marcos, 21-year-old daughter of the dictator.

"[68] Increasing unrest springing from the economic collapse of the Philippines in the years after the assassination of Senator Benigno Aquino in 1983 came to a head in February 1986, when the EDSA Revolution succeeded in unseating the Marcoses from Malacañang palace.

A month later, they moved into a pair of residences in Makiki Heights, Honolulu, which were registered to Antonio Floirendo and Bienvenido and Gliceria Tantoco.

[73] President Corazon Aquino eventually allowed the Marcoses, including Imee, to return to the Philippines in order to face various charges.

[89][90] According to records uncovered by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, Imee and her three sons are beneficiaries of the Sintra Trust, which was formed in June 2002 in the British Virgin Islands.

Other documents, the latest dated 2010, also name Imee as a financial adviser for the Sintra Trust as well as ComCentre Corporation, which was formed in January 2002 and is still in operation.

[100] Pedro Agcaoili, Eden Batulayan, Josephine Calajete, Encarnacion Gaor, Genedine Jambaro, and Evangeline Tabulog[101] also acknowledged that their signatures were written on pertinent documents, a fact that they had previously denied.

[107] The Sandiganbayan's 5th Division convicted former Imelda Marcos for creating and maintaining seven private foundations in Switzerland while holding government positions from 1968 to 1986.

[108] On November 10, 2018, the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found that she and her siblings benefited from the illegal Swiss foundations that her mother, Imelda Marcos, created and maintained.

[110][111] On November 25, 2018, Marcos proposed to expand the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) by providing a monthly income to fishermen and farmers.

'[38] After Imee's third educational attainment claim was disproved, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM)'s Registrar and Student Enterprise Director, Bryan Magbutay, reiterated, "In our 50 years of providing world class programs we never offered an MA MBA,” effectively disproving Imee's fourth educational attainment claim.

[127][128] In the 19th Congress, Marcos was named as chair of four Senate committees: Cooperatives; Electoral Reforms and People's Participation; Foreign Relations; and Social Justice, Welfare and Rural Development.

[130] In June 2023, Marcos filed a Senate resolution seeking to investigate a "request" by the United States government for the Philippines to temporarily house Afghan refugees.

Marcos maintained the request lacked transparency and said some refugees, who are "supporters of the US and possibly, even former employees of the US government or US companies", pose a threat to public safety and national security.

[131][132] In November 2023, Marcos reaffirms her support and loyalty to former president Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Sara Duterte regarding the issue of confidential funds,[133] while stating that the Philippines does not need to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) as it will "cause great shame for the Filipinos" citing the courts are working, free and strong.

[150] Marcos and Manotoc have three sons: Fernando Martín ("Borgy"), a commercial model and club DJ; Ferdinand Richard Michael ("Mike"), a lawyer; and Matthew Joseph ("MJ"), a sports agent and incumbent governor of Ilocos Norte since June 30, 2019.

[153] Since her legal separation from Manotoc, Marcos has been in a long-term relationship with Singaporean and ethnic Chinese businessman and resident Mark Chua, since the 1990s.