While former first lady Imelda Marcos' infamous jewelry collection is being eyed for exhibit, her equally notorious shoe collection is said to be falling into neglect.
A team of curators at the National Museum are trying to rescue some of the apparel the Marcoses left in the Malacañan Palace after the room where the items have been stored was swamped due to a leaking ceiling, an Associated Press report on Sunday said.
"There was termite infestation and mold in past years, and these were aggravated by last month's storm," the report quoted museum curator Orlando Abinion as saying.
Damaged items were part of over 150 boxes of the Marcoses' belongings transferred to the National Museum two years ago for safekeeping.
These include clothes strongman Ferdinand Marcos had worn in state occassions and some of his wife's shoe collection, which they left when they were forced into exile by the 1986 People Power Revolution.
"It's unfortunate because Imelda may have worn some of these clothes in major official events and as such have an important place in our history," Abinion said.
Imelda reportedly left over 1,200 shoes when she fled the Palace with her husband.
These are not part of the $2.24 billion worth of assets so far recovered by the Presidential Commission on Good Government, the report noted.
Earlier reports have meanwhile said PCGG is eyeing an exhibit of Imelda's massive jewelry collection, which are also being planned for auction.
Imelda Marcos claimed many of the shoes were gifts from Filipino shoemakers in local shoemakers in Marikina City, which in 2001 borrowed 800 of her shoes for a museum.
Dozens of pairs were damaged in a 2009 flood, however.
The surviving 765 pairs "still look remarkably new due to meticulous museum care, which includes displaying them in airtight and dust-free glass cabinets in an air-conditioned gallery, away from direct sunlight," the AP report said.
Imelda's shoes "never fail to astound people years after," the report quoted museum manager Jane Ballesteros as saying.
She added that most of the museum's daily 50 to 100 visitors ask if Imelda was able to wear all of the shoes.
"When I say, yes, look at the scratches on the soles, the next reaction is, 'Really?'" Ballesteros said.
Twelve people were killed in the Philippines on Saturday as troops clashed with a militant group blamed for the country's deadliest terror attacks, the military said.
