Lab coats and Lou Reed: Marcos on life had he not entered politics

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has revealed that he did not initially want to become a politician, as he once dreamed of wearing a white coat and working in a laboratory as a scientist.

In a candid conversation with music icon Gary Valenciano on the season finale of the “Unshaken With Gary V” podcast, which aired on Monday, Marcos reflected on what his life might have been like had he not entered the country’s political arena.

“The funny thing is, I’ll tell you what: I knew I wasn’t going to be a politician. I absolutely said that there’s one walk of life that I am not going to go down because I saw how difficult it is, the sacrifices that my dad had to make, my mother had to make, and the other people had to make around them,” Marcos told the singer.

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“I had an affinity for mathematics and science in school. And I said, I’m going to be a scientist. I want to be a scientist. I dreamed of working in a lab in a white coat and doing really important research and continuing to study, maybe teach a little bit,” he continued.

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Aside from science, Marcos said he was also interested in pursuing music, mainly due to his mother’s influence.

He recalled that there was always music playing in their house, which sparked his interest in the subject.

“I studied music for years. Because, well, of course, because of my mom. And then, you know, you’re in England in the ’70s. That’s when everything was happening. I was hearing all kinds of music,” Marcos said.

“And the reason I seriously studied music was because my housemaster—I was sent to my housemaster to be punished, right, that I did something wrong. So he said, ‘You’re here all the time. You’re always in trouble. Go find yourself a hobby so that you can occupy your time doing something constructive.’ And at the time, I was listening to a lot of music,” he continued.

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‘Life-changing’ music encounter

Marcos, sharing more memories from his childhood, said accidentally listening to Lou Reed’s “Take a Walk on the Wild Side” further ignited his interest in music.

“But I remember when I was in school, this was 1972, second year. So, ’72 ’yun, 1972 I was… In school, we had to do something after breakfast. ‘Pag second year ka, you inspect the dormitories to see if the first year had swept it properly,” he said.

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“And so I was doing my inspection, and one—in the room, somebody played Lou Reed, ‘Take a Walk on the Wild Side.’ And it stopped me cold. And I couldn’t believe that you’re allowed to make music like that. In fact, in the end, I didn’t do my work,” he also said.

Marcos said in a 2023 interview that he was “determined not to go into politics,” but the “survival” of his family motivated him to enter the political arena.

When their family was allowed to return to Manila from exile in 1991, Marcos said there was a need to defend their family politically and that somebody had to enter the political arena.