MANILA, Philippines?Twenty years after the death of her controversial husband, former first lady Imelda Marcos still dreams of a return to power but this time with her son as president.

?Yes, I am egging him ... I am practically pushing him to run for a higher office,? the energetic and immaculately dressed 80-year-old told Agence France-Presse when asked if she wanted Ferdinand ?Bongbong? Marcos Jr. to lead the country.

The 51-year-old Bongbong, only son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, has already forged a thriving political career that has been based on his parents? enduring strengths and alliances.

He served as governor of Ilocos Norte province, his father?s former stronghold, for 12 years and is currently an opposition member of the House of Representatives.

While acknowledging that all mothers are proud of their sons, Imelda said she had many special reasons to boast about hers.

?Great miracles in Ilocos?

?He (Bongbong) has done great miracles in Ilocos,? she said in an exclusive interview on Monday from her double-story penthouse apartment in Metro Manila.

Citing her son?s many achievements while governor of Ilocos Norte, Imelda said Bongbong had built hundreds of kilometers of roads, ensured all the poor had access to medical services and tripled average incomes.

?Bongbong, I am very proud of him. He can qualify for anything,? she said.

There is speculation that Bongbong will run for the Senate in next year?s national elections, but he has not publicly announced any ambitions to lead the nation of 92 million people.

There is no clear front-runner among the more than a dozen candidates who have declared their intention to succeed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is constitutionally mandated to step down next year.

Imelda did not say when she hoped her son, who was educated at Oxford University and University of Pennsylvania?s Wharton Business School, would assume the nation?s highest office.

Controversial, divisive

The dictator Marcos remains one of Asia?s most controversial and divisive figures despite two decades having passed since his death in exile on Sept. 21, 1989.

He ruled the Philippines from 1965 until he was ousted in the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution that forced him and his family to flee to the United States.

Critics had accused the dictator of plundering billions of dollars from government coffers and presiding over widespread human rights abuses.

His wife?s extravagant clothes and lifestyle have been regarded as one of the most powerful symbols of the Marcos dictatorship?s excesses.

To this day, however, Imelda insists she and her husband have nothing to apologize for.

?Marcos was no dictator,? she said before launching into a defense of her husband?s imposition of martial law in 1972 to stay in power.

After returning to the Philippines following her husband?s death, Imelda made a failed bid for the presidency in 1992.

?Mama of the barangays?

Unsullied by a conviction for any crime she may have committed during her husband?s reign, Imelda believes she still has much to offer her country.

Imelda said she harbored ambitions of a top government post in her son?s administration that would put her in charge of overseeing basic services for the country?s 42,000 barangays.

She admitted she had a selfish reason for pushing her son to become president.

?I want him to appoint me as mother of the barangays with a one peso a year salary,? she said, adding her husband ?has institutionalized politics in the family.?

?What I want to do is go to the barangay ... and bring basic services there so that people will not be deprived of care and attention. I just want to be mama of the barangays.?