Ferdinand Marcos was a memory whiz.

Marcos was so smart he single-handedly topped the 1939 Bar Examinations (with near-perfect score) despite being in jail for 27 days!

Perhaps we can attribute it to his photographic memory which reportedly gave him the ability to memorize complicated texts such as the the 1935 Philippine Constitution and recite them forward and backward.

Several people can attest to Marcos’ incredible memory, and they include Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago who once served as the late president’s speech writer.

“One time, the Secretary of Justice forgot to tell me that the President had requested him to draft a speech….” said Miriam during an interview with the Philippine Star.

“And then, on the day the President was to deliver the speech, he suddenly remembered because Malacañang was asking for the speech, so he said, ‘This is an emergency. You just have to produce something.’

…He (Marcos) liked long speeches. I think that was 20 or 25 pages. And then, in the evening, I was there, of course. President Marcos recited the speech from memory.”