The Philippines: Is Imelda a Shoe-In?

What she lacks in credibility she easily makes up in chutzpah. Just minutes after pleading not guilty to six criminal charges, former First Lady Imelda Marcos stood on the courthouse steps to announce her bid to succeed Corazon Aquino as President of the Philippines.

"There is a cry, there is a need for someone to help our people in misery," she said. After pledging to "save our country from suffering," she stepped into her Mercedes stretch limousine and headed back to her $2,000-a- day hotel suite.

Though 41 criminal cases against Marcos are still pending, the ex-First Spouse's entry into the presidential race is being taken seriously in some quarters; the masses can expect a long season of free entertainment and handouts. But her quest to secure the nomination of the opposition Nacionalista Party could divide the anti-Aquino forces.

While the press would love to see a reprise of the "war of the widows," Aquino has insisted on 92 different occasions that she will not seek re- election in May. She even sang her message on one occasion, warbling to the tune of I'll Never Smile Again an off-key rendition of I'll Never Run Again.