Erap camp to Comelec: Disqualify Villar over campaign ads

The camp of Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino standard bearer, former President Joseph Estrada, today dared the Commission on Elections to disqualify any candidate who has violated the Omnibus Election Code, particularly the limit set on airtime for his or her campaign advertisements.


“This is an acid test for our poll officials, and if they fail this one, then the results of the May 2010 national elections will forever be put in doubt," PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan said.

Calinisan was reacting to the report recently by the advocacy group, Pera at Pulitika, and based on the data from the AGB Nielsen Media Research, which showed that Nacionalista Party president candidate Sen. Mannya Villar has already exceeded his alloted airtime for TV campaign ads, totalling 2,054 minutes.

The report also revealed that Villar has outspent his other rivals for the presidency, shelling out P1.2-billion from Nov. 1, 2009 to Feb. 8, 2010.

“What we are seeing here is a clear case of using money not to promote one’s program of government but to purchase a quick ride to the presidency,” Calinisan said.

“The Filipino electorate can see through this, and we are all calling on the Comelec to fulfill its mandate in this regard.”

He cited Section 11 of Comelec Resolution No. 8758, which sets the duration of airtime that a candidate may avail of for his or her campaign: 120 minutes in television or cable television, and 180 minutes in radio

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In Pampanga, Erap keeps up pitch to make ‘jueteng’ legal

Right in Pampanga, which was once described by Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr. as the “Vatican of jueteng,” former President Joseph Estrada on Wednesday reached out to students to explain why he supported the legalization of jueteng as early as his term as senator.




In a forum at the Holy Angel University here, Estrada, the standard-bearer of the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, told about 1,500 students that jueteng generates jobs for the poor so he supported its legalization.



Estrada was convicted of plunder but pardoned very early by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.



Bribes



Among the charges hurled against him was accepting bribe from jueteng lords.



In January 2001, Estrada was ousted by a citizen revolt that installed then Vice President Arroyo to the presidency.



Estrada said one of his first privilege speeches during his term as senator supported moves to legalize jueteng because he came face to face with the numbers game as mayor of San Juan in Metro Manila.



Estrada said jueteng workers asked for jobs, even as garbage collectors, but there was none available.



“That’s the social problem, a hungry stomach knows no law,” he said. “Stop jueteng, where will they turn to? They will steal and engage in kidnapping.”



Erap numbers

Citing a study that he said was conducted by the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, Estrada said there were 163,000 jueteng bet collectors (kubrador) and managers (cabo) in the five regions of Luzon in 2004.



To get an accurate picture of the extent of how the illegal numbers game provide livelihood to poor people, he said this number should be multiplied by four to represent the jueteng employees’ family members.

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Erap says rivals' lead in surveys may not translate into votes

MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada has expressed confidence his top rivals’ lead in surveys of presidential candidates will not translate to votes come May 2010.

“They are still weighing everything. It’s still five months from election day. Two months before the election, I think they will be decided on who to vote for,” Estrada said in an interview at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office in Intramuros which was hearing a disqualification case filed against him.

Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manny Villar have consistently topped the surveys. In the latest Pulse Asia survey, Aquino’s rating was at 44 percent, followed by Villar at 23 percent, and Estrada at 19 percent.

“The people have seen my performance even if it’s just two and a half years. None of my Cabinet officials have been involved in scam,” he added.

A battery of lawyers accompanied Estrada yesterday at the hearing of the Comelec’s Second Division on the three disqualification cases filed against him by lawyer Evillo Pormento and Elly Pamatong, and one Mary Lou Estrada.

The three claimed that Estrada should not be allowed to seek the presidency, citing constitutional provision against re-election of a president.

“It’s baseless. The ban is only for incumbent president, a president who served complete six years. I served only for two and a half years so I’m qualified to run,” he added.

During the hearing, Estrada’s lead counsel George Garcia moved for the consolidation of the three cases but this was opposed by Romulo Macalintal, lawyer of President Arroyo.

In seeking the country’s highest post, Estrada said he wants to be remembered as a leader who championed the cause of the masses.

Estrada, standard bearer of the United Opposition, said his return to Malacañang would enable him to finish his pro-poor programs that got stalled when he was ousted in 2001.

“I have always said that in the twilight of my life, I just want to be remembered as the man who championed the cause of the Filipino masses,” he said.

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Joseph Estrada

olitical Party

PMP

Status

Decided

Hometown

Manila, Philippines

Short Description

Tunay at Tapat na Nagmamahal sa Masang Pilipino

Civil Status

Married

Gender

Male

Nationality

Filipino

Birthday

April 19, 1937

Spouse

Loi Estrada

Children

Jinggoy, Jacqueline and Jude

Profession

Actor, Politician

Company

Philippines

Religion

Roman Catholic

Personal Life

Estrada is married to (the former Doctor and first lady-turned-senator) Luisa Pimentel and had three children by her: Jose Ejercito, Jr. (better known as "Jinggoy Estrada"; former Mayor of San Juan turned Senator/married to Precy Vitug), Jackie Ejercito (married to Beaver Lopez), and Jude Ejercito (married to Weng Ocampo). Joseph Estrada met his wife Loi while working as an orderly at the National Center for Mental Health (NMCH) in Mandaluyong City.

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About Joseph Estrada

Tunay at Tapat na Nagmamahal sa Masang Pilipino

Joseph Marcelo Ejercito Estrada was born on April 19, 1937, in Tondo, Manila. His parents, Engr. Emilio Ejercito and Maria Marcelo, moved to San Juan where he grew up and where he continues to reside to this day. His primary education was obtained at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University. He later took up an Engineering course at the Mapua Institute of Technology.

In his early twenties, he became a movie actor by accident but later proved himself to be an accomplished thespian, starring in a string of well-received films that earned him the title of a living legend in local filmdom. More popularly known as Erap, he is a five-time Best Actor awardee – a feat he repeated by winning the Best Picture award an equal number of times. This earned him a rare place in the FAMAS Hall of Fame in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

He entered politics in 1967, was elected and re-elected mayor of the Municipality (now City) of San Juan which he served with dedication and distinction for more than 16 continuous years. Unfortunately, he was one of hundreds of local officials who were asked to step down in the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA revolution. When he left his post, the San Juan Municipal treasury registered P24-million in savings.

In 1972, he was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration by the Philippine Jaycees. He was also voted Outstanding Mayor and foremost Nationalist by the Inter-Provincial Information Service in 1971 and awarded the coveted title, “Most Outstanding Metro Manila Mayor,” the following year by the Philippine Princeton Poll.

His administration of San Juan was marked by unequaled accomplishments in infrastructure development. These included the establishment of the first san Juan Municipal High School, the Agora complex, a modern slaughterhouse, a sprawling Government Center with a post Office, a mini-park and the concreting of 98 percent of San Juan’s roads and alleys.

His administration of San Juan was marked by unequaled accomplishments in infrastructure development. These included the establishment of the first san Juan Municipal High School, the Agora complex, a modern slaughterhouse, a sprawling Government Center with a post Office, a mini-park and the concreting of 98 percent of San Juan’s roads and alleys.

As mayor, he paid particular attention to the elementary education of school-age children by improving and renovating school buildings and constructing additional school structures, health centers, barangay halls and playgrounds in all the barangays and providing artesian wells to areas with low water supply. He relocated some 1,800 squatter families out of San Juan to Taytay, Rizal, at no cost to the affected families. He was also the first mayor to computerize assessment of the Real Estate Tax in the Municipal Assessor’s Office.

For the movie industry, he established the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (MOWELFUND), Inc. which has now become a robust organization that provides industry workers with financial and professional assistance. His efforts to upgrade and professionalize the film industry have resulted in substantial benefits to all movie personnel, from directors and actors down to the lowest crewmen.

He is the Founder and President of the ERAP Para sa Mahirap Foundation, a foundation that offers scholarship assistance to poor but deserving college students. Through the foundation’s educational grants, more than a thousand students have since earned a college degree.

He also established the San Juan Progress Foundation, the San Juan Police and Fire Trust Fund and the Friends of Joseph Estrada, which offers free burial assistance for the poor folks of San Juan.

In 1987, he set his sights on a Senate run and handily garnered a seat. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Works. He was Vice-Chairman of the Committees on Health

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