Philippine former first lady Imelda Marcos talks about her life in front of a portrait of her... 
(AP)
Imelda Marcos is nothing if not a survivor.
As the Philippines' most notorious first lady approaches 80, she is still courting publicity and claiming that despite the billions reportedly stashed away during her late husband Ferdinand's rule, and the 22-carat diamond ring on her finger, she is nearly broke.
"Here I am, at 80, still struggling to look presentable," the former beauty queen said as she greeted reporters this weekend in her swank two-story Manila penthouse, wearing a dark red dress over matching pants and red slippers.
Imelda, whose birthday is July 2, will forever be remembered for the dazzling jewels and 1,220 pairs of shoes she left behind in the presidential palace after the "people's power" revolt that toppled Marcos's authoritarian regime in 1986 and forced them into exile in Hawaii. She said the diamond ring was given to her by Ferdinand 55 years ago on their engagement.
Ferdinand died in 1989 and Imelda was allowed to return home in 1991. Despite her notoriety for extravagance in a nation wracked by poverty, she still has her supporters and even won a congressional seat in 1991 and ran, unsuccessfully, for president a year later.
These days she keeps busy working on her own jewelry collection, making the pieces from her old accessories and clothes, mixed with newly bought stones and other materials.
Some Filipinos were incensed at her unashamed opulence, but others, especially the generation born after 1986 with no memory of martial law under the Marcos regime, view her as an entertaining curiosity.
"She's captivating and mesmerizing, whether or not you share her politics," said architect Gigi Gonzalez.
Despite some 900 civil and criminal cases she had faced in Philippine courts since 1991 — cases ranging from embezzlement and corruption to tax evasion — she has emerged relatively unscathed and never served prison time. All but a handful of the cases have been dismissed for lack of evidence and a few convictions were overturned on appeal.
