Get Back True Story: What Really Happened To The Beatles In Manila

It was mentioned in The Beatles: Get Back documentary that the iconic band had a less-than-ideal visit in Manila in the mid-1960s, but what really happened to them in the Philippines? At the height of their popularity in 1966, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr went on a world tour. In its first leg that started in June and ended in July, the group visited Germany, Japan, and the Philippines. But while they had a great time in their first two stops, things were significantly different when they visited the Philippines.

Academy-Award-winning director Peter Jackson was given total access to almost 60 hours of footage chronicling the making of The Beatles’ Let It Be album and the band’s comeback live performance, originally filmed for Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s 1970 documentary of the same name. At one point in The Beatles: Get Back, the group was discussing the location for their much-awaited performance. McCartney wanted it to be somewhere unconventional and risky; he even suggested the Houses of Parliament and proceeded to joke about them being hauled off by police officers while they continue to play. Lindsay-Hogg, however, darkly reminded them of the incident in Manila, saying that if they wanted to be in danger, they should return to the Philippines and do the performance there. The documentary didn’t elaborate on what really happened during their 1966 tour stop in the Southeast Asian country, but the whole ordeal was quite crazy and scary.

The Beatles were big in the Philippines, just like in a lot of countries around the world at that time, so when they landed on July 3, 1966 the group was welcomed warmly by the Filipinos. Despite a change in venue from Araneta Coliseum to Rizal Memorial Stadium, their first two shows were a massive success, with over 80,000 fans coming to watch them—the largest crowd to see The Beatles in concert. Their problems started, however, when they didn’t do a courtesy call to former President and dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda Marcos in Malacañang Palace. Apparently, the request for a private meeting was previously declined by The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, while they were still in Japan in line with the band’s policy regarding being invited to embassies and other functions while on tour.

On their final day in the country on July 5, the group was subjected to unkind treatment as they were ready to leave. The hotel staff wouldn’t answer their requests and their security was suddenly pulled out. The Beatles and their group were forced to fend for themselves. They got their own cabs and carried their own luggage to the airport to catch their flight. However, the intimidation from Marcos loyalists made things so much more difficult. When they arrived at the airport, they were jostled and heckled. The airport manager, Willy Jurado, even mandated that the escalators be shut down and that no employee should offer any assistance to the tour party. It didn’t stop there, as The Beatles and their staff were also physically beaten while waiting to board their plane. Jurado later bragged about punching both John Lennon and Ringo Starr in the face, saying that they deserve it for humiliating the Marcoses.

For what it’s worth, there were fans who empathized with The Beatles for how they were being treated, but they, too, were reprimanded by the Marcos loyalists. After The Beatles had left the country, Marcos issued a statement saying that the band’s inability to visit Malacañang Palace wasn’t intentional despite previous reports from the government-owned network. This made it sound as if the whole snafu wasn’t premeditated by the administration, although it did seem like the whole thing was planned considering the progression of events. The Beatles never returned to the Philippines, and after everything that they experienced, who can blame them?

The three-part The Beatles: Get Back documentary now airs on Disney+.

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