MANILA, Philippines ? It?s either slim pickings or the namesake son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos is a sure-fire winner that at least three political parties have him as a guest candidate.

Marcos Junior, the Ilocos Norte representative nicknamed ?Bongbong,? is raising the possibility of joining a fourth group, the Liberal Party, if its standard-bearer, Sen. Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III, makes the first move to invite him.

?I am waiting for a call. I?m like someone waiting for a date, waiting by the phone for the telephone call to come but thus far, there has been none,? Marcos told a news conference yesterday.

?You know, to be a guest candidate, you have to be invited ... There hasn?t been a call but that?s not really a great surprise,? said Marcos, whose father clapped Noynoy?s father, the assassinated opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., in jail upon the declaration of martial law in 1972. He was incarcerated for eight years.

The murder of the elder Aquino in 1983 sparked a national outrage that led to the dictator?s ouster in a peaceful revolt three years later.

The Liberal Party already has nine senatorial candidates, and is looking at a stack of applications to complete its slate of 12 to be fielded in the May elections, officials said.

Pressed if he could work with Aquino, Marcos said he saw no problem with this. He added that if invited by the LP, that would put him in a good position because it would mean that four parties wanted him.

Asked if he would be on the negative end of the goodwill that Aquino had been receiving following the death of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, the 52-year-old Marcos said he was unaffected by this.

Remembered and loved

?All my life I?ve been benefiting from the good will of my father. Up until now I continue to benefit. His supporters, companions are still there ? We are lucky that our father is still remembered and loved,? Marcos said.

Although the elder Aquinos and Marcoses were mortal enemies, their children have not exhibited public animosities. The Marcos children were among those who visited the wake of President Aquino.

Marcos officially remains with the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), his father?s party. But he is a guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People?s Coalition and the Partido ng Masang Pilipino-United Opposition, he said.

He said he would choose in three days which one of these parties the KBL would coalesce with. He said he had to choose one because it would be difficult to join all three during the campaign.

?I pity Gibo?

Marcos also said he would remain in the opposition, although he and his family have great affection for the administration?s standard-bearer, former Defense Secretary Gilbert ?Gibo? Teodoro Jr., who has been trailing in the surveys.

?I really pity Gibo. I regret that he has to be put in this situation. It?s too bad he?s on the wrong side. We love him,? said former Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos, who joined her brother in the press conference.

Bongbong Marcos, whose family is battling to keep sequestered assets it allegedly stole during his father?s strongman rule, said the fight against corruption would be one of the things he would spearhead if and when he gets to the Senate.

It is the basic job of the government to prepare the country for the improvement of the global economy, and one aspect of this is fighting corruption, he said.

?Corruption has to be part of it. We face a lot of things because of corruption, such as smuggling in the importation of rice. It?s institutionalized in the government. I don?t think we have ever seen the institutionalizing of corruption in any administration except for this one,? Marcos said.

Moral ascendancy

Asked if he thought he had the moral ascendancy to fight corruption, he said: ?Of course. Even the worst critics of my father?s administration would admit there was nothing. Maybe there were a few who managed to do wrong ? but not like this where it?s institutionalized, where the boss is ordering you to get something from this or that.?

Imee Marcos also pointed out that she and her brother have served in the government for many years and have not been tainted with corruption.

?There?s a great deal said about the Marcos legacy and I think the proof of the pudding is in Bongbong ... We have served for over a decade, unbesmirched by any kind of corruption issue,? she said.