Manila: Former first lady and Congresswoman Imelda Marcos, 84, was rushed to hospital after falling down the stairs at the House of Representatives in suburban Quezon City on Monday.

She was taken to the nearby Heart Centre, also in Quezon City, after slipping down six steps of the North Lobby at the end of the opening session which saw the election of house leaders, Marcos’ chief-of-staff, Bebot Diaz, said, adding that Dr Richard Dizon, head of the congressional medical services, was with Marcos.

It was nothing serious, said Diaz, but added that Marcos’ doctors wanted her to remain in hospital for a series of X-rays.

Marcos failed to attend President Benigno Aquino’s delivery of his State of the Nation Address in the afternoon, a star-studded affair.

Her husband, former President Ferdinand Marcos, who imposed martial law in 1972 (after being elected in 1965), was ousted by a people-backed military mutiny that also saw Corazon Aquino elected to the presidency in 1986.

The former first family lived in exile in Honolulu, Hawaii where the former Philippine strongman died in 1989. He was accused of amassing an estimated $35 billion (Dh128 billion) alleged ill-gotten wealth while in power.

Her collection of 2,000 pairs of shoes was revealed after her family hastily left the presidential palace following a series of protests in February of that year.

The surviving members of the Marcos family were allowed to return home in 1990, which paved the way for their return to power through elections in government posts.

Her son Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos was elected senator last May 2010.

The young Marcos belongs to the Nationalista Party, which formed a coalition with Aquino’s Liberal Party in this year’s mid-term polls.