The Beatles hated the Philippines?

These are just gathered from what I heard and read about the incident. I just want to imply that some of the details may not be accurate. And since some of us (especially me) weren't born at that time yet and we know that news, stories, etc can't all be very accurate as well, only the people involved really know what happened. :)

Everyone knows who The Beatles is. They are legends in the music industry. They traveled around the world for concerts. And yes, the Philippines was one of the countries they visited... but it is also one of their worst experience. The concert was successful and was attended by thousands of fans at Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The Beatles went to the Philippines in 1966 for a concert. This was during the late Former-President Ferdinand Marcos' administration. Some of the members told that they sensed "bad vibes" when they arrived in the Philippines. They were greeted at the airport by many fans and armed guards (military) and they were escorted to the Philippines Navy Headquarters for their Press conference without the rest of their entourage including their manager. They were then headed into a yacht to attend a luxury party organized by a media tycoon (still without their crew and manager). The Beatles said it was the first time they will be separated from their manager during this kind of situation. Then they were taken into a limo and were escorted to their hotel and checked in at around 4 am. They were soon joined by their manager in their hotel room.

Before they arrived in the Philippines, an invitation was already sent to the management of the Beatles from the promoter regarding the First lady's invitation to them. There were no confirmations from The Beatles' management and they claim they wanted nothing about politics. They were unaware that the promoter had already agreed to the First Lady. The next morning after they arrived in the Philippines, there was banging on the door of their hotel room. They didn't give much attention thinking it were just fans but when the door didn't stop banging, the manager opened the door. The manager then realized it was the presidential security staff saying they were to be escorted to attend a reception hosted by First-lady Imelda Marcos and told them that the First-lady, the president, and some government officials including the attendees' children will be attending the reception. Their manager politely declined the offer because it was not on the schedule of the band and they need to rest for their concert that night. Hours later, they knew something was wrong when their calls for room service weren't answered. They turned on the TV and the said event (reception) was aired on television and was seen vacant seats that were supposed to be for The Beatles and children crying because of their nonexistence in the reception. The shots focused on the vacant plates and seats that were supposedly for them and First lady Imelda Marcos' disappointment saying 'They (The Beatles) let me down!'" It would seem that The Beatles have disappointed and insulted the First lady and broke the hearts of young fans by "snubbing" the invitation without any intentions to. After this, the newspaper headlines flashed about "The Beatles Snub the President" and the manager became worried and decided to have a press conference as a formal apology to the President and the First lady over a Television owned by the government.

The legendary band played two concerts that night and it was very successful. More than 80000 fans enjoyed it.

During the interview, the Manager was apologizing when the picture (signal) went off. There had been technical issues that caused the interview to be unclear, it was incomprehensible. The hotel they stayed in was attacked by angry fans so they hurriedly packed their bags and headed to the airport. When they were leaving the country that day, there were no security police for them. They disappeared. It was removed. They experienced a frightening ride on their way to the airport. Many roads are closed and at every stop, they endure fans that are banging the car windows angrily. They were forced to carry their baggage and equipment as porters refused to help them. And they were jostled and their manager was beaten. In the airport, they were approached by angry fans and the airport looked like it was a military camp because there was a lot of military surrounding the airport. The escalators were also turned off. The airport personnel told them "WE TREAT YOU LIKE ORDINARY PASSENGER! ORDINARY PASSENGER!" They were pushed, jostled, and Ringo Starr also said that people are spitting on them. Screaming in Spanish and English. But surprisingly, the Beatles' staff were attacked more than the Beatles. Their entourage (staff) suffered minor injuries as well as Ringo Starr who suffered a minor injury when he got hit by an uppercut and was kicked on the ground after he tripped. The Beatles band members managed to run for protection behind a small crowd of nuns and monks.

When they got on the plane, Paul McCartney said they were all kissing their seats. But Brian Eipstein (the manager) and Malcolm Evans (the personal assistant/rodie) were called to take off the plane again. They were horrified and their manager even said to the band to tell his wife he loves her. Malcolm Evans dreaded that he would be put into jail or executed. Their manager was then forced to pay the income tax for their concert and tax bond as it was supposedly the responsibility of the promoter. They were forced to pay £6,800 that time for the fees. And two of their entourage were investigated when they see irregularities in their passport. After that another long wait, they were now permitted to leave and fly home. When they arrive at London's Heathrow Airport, the Beatles expressed their trip to the British press.

The Beatles made a vow to never return to the Philippines again. John Lenon said, "If we go back, it will be with an H-bomb, I won't even fly over the place." Ringo stated that "the worst experience in my life...I thought they were going to put us in jail..." George said he'd like to "drop a bomb" in the Philippines.

Disclaimer!!!

This post is not to make the Philippines and the Marcos family look bad. This is just a story I gathered about what happened during those days and I discourage people to judge my country based on these stories. I love my country and I love The Beatles. A lot of Filipinos love the Beatles. The event (experience) has a lot more deep reasons as to why it happened. Most Filipinos know that it was Martial Law at that time and that can actually be the reason why there were militaries everywhere. It was very strict back then. But I will not go that far as discussing martial law and this article is just about the Beatles' experience in the Philippines. Some people say that no one was supposed to say "no" to the First Family during President Marcos' administration. I'm not sure. Maybe, the First Family was really disappointed because they expected the band's appearance since the promoter already confirmed it to them. I think it was all a misunderstanding as both parties didn't know prior to the event that the invitation was confirmed. Maybe, the angry fans just felt like the band disrespected the first family for not attending even when they "confirmed" to attend. Again, the band didn't know the promoter confirmed their attendance AND the First Lady (Family) DIDN'T KNOW that the Beatles didn't know the promoter already confirmed. The more that the fans had no idea of what really happened and they based and act on what they heard which was the disappointment of the First Lady. AGAIN, THIS IS NOT TO MAKE MY COUNTRY LOOK BAD. THIS WAS A LONG TIME AGO AND A LOT HAS CHANGED AND LESSONS WERE LEARNED IN THE PAST (OR SO I BELIEVE).

Here are some videos where you can watch and read more about the story:

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