The Philippines: Tommy Returns

But many questions remain

Six weeks after he disappeared following his secret marriage to the daughter of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Tomas (Tommy) Manotoc, 32, resurfaced to tell a harrowing tale. He was kidnaped by Communist guerrillas and held in a mountain hideout in the Sierra Madre, he said, and then rescued by intelligence units of the armed forces after a brief clash. At a press conference at a military base in Manila, a haggard and frightened-looking Manotoc declared that “there’s definitely no truth” to charges that the Marcos family had been involved in his kidnaping.

An amateur golf champion and professional basketball coach, Manotoc disappeared Dec. 29 after a quiet, private dinner at a Manila restaurant with Maria Imelda (“Imee”) Marcos, 26. The couple had been wed in a civil ceremony in Arlington, Va., three weeks earlier, after Manotoc had obtained a quickie divorce from his first wife, in the Dominican Republic. The bride’s family took a dim view of the pairing, however, and the groom’s family subsequently accused the Marcoses of involvement in his disappearance.

Not so, said Manotoc at last week’s press conference, which was presided over by Philippine Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile. Reading an open letter to President Marcos, Manotoc said: “I understand that many names have been maligned and that your honor has been questioned. This I would want to rectify for the sake of the country and the Filipino people that you lead.”

The pro-Marcos press hailed Manotoc’s return as a triumph for the military and vindication of the President and his family. Elsewhere the story met with widespread skepticism. Manotoc’s family refused to believe it and called the press conference “well rehearsed.” Manotoc admitted that military officials had made it clear to him that he could not contact his family or friends until he had read the public statement exonerating the Marcoses. He had never seen his captors, since he had been blindfolded or forced to face a concrete wall. Although he said at the press conference that his kidnapers had not mentioned the marriage, he later told his family that the abductors had beaten him and warned him not to “mess with the President’s daughter.” He also told them that his “rescue” had been staged. The Communist underground, meanwhile, issued a statement denying responsibility. It noted that Manotoc’s captors had sent two ransom notes, and pointed out that kidnaping for ransom had not been one of its tactics.

After discussions with his family on whether or not “to go on with the script,” as his brother Dini put it, Manotoc called a second press conference, only to announce that he would have nothing more to say. Friends said he was torn by conflicting ties to his family and his new wife, and under great emotional strain from his experience. Said a family intimate: “He’s terrified.” It appeared doubtful that Tommy and Imee could salvage their relationship. She did meet with him last week at Malacañang Palace, the presidential residence, where she has been living, and they talked frequently by phone. But insiders speculated that she has decided her first loyalty is to her father. ∎