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Imelda Stood Up!!
On July 3rd, the day prior the show, The Manila
Sunday Times reported that the Beatles were invited to join the President
and Mrs. Marcos (with their 3 children) to their Malacanang Palace at
11am. The Beatles knew nothing of this appointment, hearing only of a
request for a short "pop-in" at the palace at 4pm which they respectfully
declined due to the fact that their first show started at 4pm! The Beatles
claimed they never received the earlier 11am invitation.
Much to the Beatles surprise, the palatial tyrants were extremely
angered at the Beatles neglect and the morning after the concert, The
Manila Times ran the headline "Imelda Stood Up!!". The ramifications were
to become serious. Philippine promoter Ramon Ramos refused to pay the
Beatles for their performance! Bomb and death threats were telephoned to
the deluged British Embassy and to the boys hotel suite. Brian Epstein was
so distressed with the situation he arranged for a press conference from
the hotel to apologize for the misunderstanding. BUT...as fate would have
it, some unforeseen static blipped out his interview from most all TV
screens in the country! (more than a few thought it was probably more
shenanigans by the Marcos clan).
Pulling more strings the next day when the Beatles were scheduled to
depart the country, Misael Vera, Philippine Tax Authority, insisted the
group could not leave the country until every penny of the taxes owed them
was paid! Of course, they never got paid anything but Brian hurriedly
forked over a bond out his own funds for P.74,450 (around $18,000) to
settle the matter.
To make matters worse, all security detail assigned to the boys were
withdrawn leaving them extremely vulnerable. They were literally kicked
and jostled as they left their hotel and totally harassed all the way to
the airport. Things were no better there where the airport manager has
also removed all security for the Beatles. They went so far as to shut
down the power to stop the escalators, forcing the boys to scale several
flights of stairs with their own luggage, only to face an angry mob of 200
Filipinos brutally manhandling them! Ringo was literally floored by an
uppercut and kicked on the ground. He suffered a sprained ankle as well
and had to be helped to the customs area. Mal Evans and Brian Epstein were
injured as well. Alf Bicknell suffered a cracked rib and a spinal
injury.
When they finally approached the plane, a large booing crowd jeered
and mocked them chanting "Beatles Alis Dayan!" (Go Home Beatles!) Once in
the plane, some scraping government officials "decided" the Beatles were
NOT authorized to leave the country due to inaccurate "check in"
procedures days earlier... This led to another 40 minute wait on the
Tarmac while Mal & Tony Barrow went back to the terminal to clean up
the necessary paperwork. Only minutes after the Beatles angrily departed,
did the press run a statement by President Marcos stating "Their was no
intention on the part of the Beatles to slight the first lady or the
government of the Republic Of The Philippines". Obviously a bit too late
to do the Beatles any good.
The Beatles vowed to NEVER return and it's a vow they kept. It was,
indeed, the scariest moment they ever experienced! Their next stop was
India, for a planned few days of quiet and rest, but greeting them at the
airport and their hotel were more than 600 screaming fans. They returned
to England on July 8th. Five weeks later, on August 11th, they flew to
Chicago to start their last American tour which, as we all know too well,
had its own looming troubles. Needless to say, the Beatles clearly needed
the break they gave themselves at the end of August when they performed
their last live concert performance at San Francisco's Candlestick
Park. - PC/MM 1998
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