Welcome to a game of Monopoly. The rules are simple: the goal is to become the wealthiest thief by buying the most number of properties using the $5-10 billion dollars. Sounds simple enough, right? You’re Ferdinand E. Marcos, the 10th President of the Republic of the Philippines. You just declared Martial Law in the Philippines and you’ve got your eyes set on some prime real estate in the United States— particularly, in New York. Time to steal from the people’s money! To start off, whoever rolls the highest number on the dice goes first. But it seems you’re the only dictator—err, player! [[Roll the dice anyway.->Fahnestock Mansion]] [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/cover-bg.png"); box-shadow: none; margin: 0 auto;} [continued] 40 Wall Street in the Financial District looks beautiful in all its neo-Gothic glory. But another player has entered the game: NYLand Ltd., a shell corporation from the Netherlands Antilles, has purchased this one for $71 million. Why was it known as the “Marcos Building,” though? [[Still thirsty for more? Roll the dice and see where you end up!->200 Madison Avenue]] Or [[take a break and check into a hotel->Waldorf Astoria]]. [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/40-wall-st-financial-district.png");} [continued]The condominiums at Olympic Tower on Fifth Avenue are majestic and spacious. So you buy not one, not two, but three units at $700,000! Pretty cheap, right? But you did want to do some remodeling, so that will cost an additional $3.75 million. No big deal. You have a think, and buy two more units for $270,000 and $1.1 million, respectively. Sweet deal! You're nearing the end of your game, so why don't you [[take a rest at a hotel->Waldorf Astoria]]? Or [[stand back and appreciate all that you've accomplished->Jail]]. [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/olympic-tower-fifth-ave.png");} [continued]You see the Crown Building at the Southwest corner of 57th Street and Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It’s on sale for only $51 million dollars! But wait, you don’t actually have the money to buy it, so you dip into your personal piggy bank, the Central Bank of the Philippines. Ssshhh, it’s a secret! So unless someone refers to it as “Farragamo,” your whole family knows not to bat an eyelid. [[Roll the dice again, just for giggles, and see where you land next!->Herald Center]] [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/crown-building.png");} [continued] Boy, does the Herald Center at 34th Street and Broadway look monumental during this time of day! But it looks like another player named Voloby Ltd., a company from the British Virgin Islands, has bought it for $25 million! Who could Voloby Ltd. be? A little bird told me that this property’s code-name is “Midtown Cement.” But you already knew that, didn’t you? There's more where that money came from, so [[you roll the dice again->Marcos Building]] or [[decide to go on a shopping spree->Bvlgari]]. [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/herald-center-34th-st-broadway.png");} [continued]You’ve landed on this lovely office building at 200 Madison Avenue. The neo-Renaissance style is right up your alley! For $50 million, it’s a little on the expensive side, isn’t it? But no worry, “Lafayette” is all yours for the taking. *wink* Too much business, not enough pleasure! [[How about finding an imperial condominium to relax at?->Olympic Tower]] [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/200-madison-ave.png");} [continued]Oof, buying all those properties really wears you out, doesn't it? You check into the Waldorf Astoria at Midtown Manhattan and spend close to $1 million dollars. Why not? You deserve it for all your hard work! [[Throw more cash in the ring?->200 Madison Avenue]] Or [[call it a hard day's work->Jail]]? [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/waldorf-astoria-midtown-manhattan.png");} [continued]But first, a quick detour! Let’s go back to the 1960s. Called the Fahnestock Mansion, this property was the Consulate General of the Philippines and Mission to the United Nations in 1960s. Also known as Philippine Townhouse, the mansion was converted by your wife, Imelda Marcos, to her personal “polly pocket” decorating it with valuable works of art, furniture and antiques. The art alone was worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and most of them went missing eventually. The Philippine Government continued to search for its lost property. [[Go on a shopping spree->Bvlgari]] or [[look for your first real estate purchase->Crown Building]]. [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/fahnestock-mansion.png");} [continued] You and Imelda kind of go overboard and spend $1 million dollars in one day at Bvlgari. Oops! Now that you've spent even more of the money you don't own, you can go back to looking at [[a few properties Midtown->Crown Building]]. [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/bvlgari.png");} [continued] In 1986, you are overthrown as dictator. But you and your family play your cards right, and make friends with the right allies. *cough* the United States government *cough* You don’t go to jail. Just a little overextended vacation in Hawaii, until your demise in 1989. In 2012, The Philippine Supreme Court declares that all these landholdings you purchased as “ill-gotten wealth.” That wealth has yet to be returned to the Philippine people. To this day, your wife, family, and descendants enjoy an impossibly privileged, royal lifestyle (always gotta fly first class, am I right?), and are enjoying their return to the highest seat of power, while the citizens of the Philippines continue to pay for your heists, suffering under the crushing weight of national debt, living in extreme poverty, and many dying unjust, violent deaths. <a href="./resources/monopolyozine_A4.pdf">Download and print the Monopolyo zine to raise awareness about the Marcoses' ill-gotten wealth in New York</a>. <p><i>Copyright © 2022 E.L. Guerrero & Czyka Tumaliuan</i></p> *This interactive zine was co-developed by E.L. Guerrero and Czyka Tumaliuan to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Martial Law at Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair 2022. Published by Kwago, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareA-like license (CC BY-NC-SA), version 4.0.* [CSS] #page {background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/last-page.png");} [continued]config.style.page.font: "Tropikal/Georgia/serif 18" config.style.page.color: "white" config.style.page.link.font: "underline" config.style.page.link.color: "white" config.style.page.link.lineColor: "white" config.style.page.link.active.color: "gray-8 on white" config.header.center: "[[MONOPOLYO->Start]]" config.style.page.header.font: "Anahaw/serif 90" config.style.page.header.link.font: "small caps" config.style.page.footer.font: "Anahaw/serif 16" config.style.page.footer.link.font: "small caps" -- [CSS] #page header.has-content { display: block; border-bottom: none; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 0s;} #page article {flex-grow: 0;} #page { background: center / cover no-repeat url("https://monopolyo.isipkwago.org/assets/images/cover-bg.png");} #page footer {visibility: hidden;} [continued]