MANILA, Philippines--The entry of Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand ?Bongbong? Marcos Jr. to the senatorial slate of the Nacionalista Party (NP) has prompted the main faction of the leftist movement in the country to clarify the matter with NP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar.

Party-list Representatives Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela will meet with Villar next week to thresh out the unprecedented political alliance between the late dictator?s son?s party Kilusan Bagong Lipunan (KBL) with the NP.

Ocampo, along with his spouse, former University of the Philippines journalism professor Bobbie Malay, was imprisoned by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos in 1972, the onset of martial law, but escaped two years later and went underground.

Ocampo still bears the scars of Marcos-era repression but he has since left the underground movement and joined the parliamentary struggle in the House of Representatives.

Ocampo also said there would be ?follow up talks? not only with the NP, but with its rival opposition party, the Liberal Party.

?No categorical statement for now,? said Ocampo, when asked if he was still bent on joining the NP.

But he added: ?We have been given an assurance by Villar that the NP-KBL alliance will not detract from his commitment to pursue our issues involving the Marcoses. We are giving his assurance due consideration in making our decision next week.?

Ocampo had said earlier he would have to study the terms of the NP-KBL alliance.

?Should the NP-KBL alliance compromise our stand, we?ll review our impending support for MV [Villar],? he had said, adding that Villar was fully informed that the party-list groups had non-negotiable issues with the Marcoses?compensation for human rights victims and recovery of ill-gotten wealth.

On Friday, Marcos formally joined the NP senatorial slate, which had also offered slots to Ocampo and Maza.

Both Villar and Marcos signed a ?coalition agreement? formalizing the alliance of the two parties for the 2010 polls at the Laurel House in Mandaluyong City.

Marcos said he could work with activists. ?Because we are not the issue. If we were the issue, then we would be on different sides. But the issues now are poverty, employment, health care, foreign relations.?

Marcos noted that the NP senatorial slate was composed of representatives ofvarious political groups and sectors in society, and said he did not expect Ocampo or Maza to agree with him on every issue.

Villar justified the NP coalition with the KBL, saying that a ?united front against poverty? was the panacea for the societal ills that have continued to hamper development in the countryside.

Villar said the fight to defeat poverty needed all hands on deck, including even bitter rivals and personalities with divergent political persuasions.

?What we are fighting is the battle against poverty. If, at the outset, we are already fighting each other, we will not succeed in fighting poverty,? he said.

As a leader, Villar said he was not ?in the habit of surrounding myself with those who will simply suck up and say yes to my every word. I believe that differences in opinion contribute to sound policy.?

Marcos and the militant lawmakers, however, agreed on the candidacy of Sen. Loren Legarda, who is Villar?s running mate.

Marcos said the KBL would not only back Villar, but also campaign for Legarda and ?all those belonging to the senatorial lineup.?

In a statement, Maza said that Legarda had actively promoted women?s rights through her support for the enactment of various laws, such as the Anti-Violence against Women and Children Act and the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act.

She also cited Legarda?s consistent advocacy of environmental protection as one important reason for her group?s decision to support her in 2010.

?We hope that she will continue to pursue these advocacies as she seeks higher office in the May 2010 elections,? Maza said.