Graft-tainted
former Philippine president Joseph Estrada was mobbed by fans Tuesday as he
applied to run for mayor of Manila, nearly 12 years after a military-backed
revolution ousted him.
The
75-year-old actor-turned politician vowed he had the energy to return to
politics, and was ready to turn around the fortunes of the country's rundown
capital.
"I
am still strong, and I will not stop serving the people until the end,"
Estrada told AFP shortly after registering his candidacy to run for mayor of
Manila in midterm elections next year.
"Manila
needs a change. There is urban decay, people are without jobs, the government
is in deficit."
Estrada
said that, if he won, he would continue his programmes for the poor that were
halted when an uprising forced him to step down down as president in 2001, only
halfway through his six-year term.
Estrada
was convicted in 2007 of corruption for plunder and taking kickbacks worth tens
of millions of dollars while president. But his successor, Gloria Arroyo,
quickly pardoned him.
Estrada,
whose enduring popularity derives from an acting career in which he typically
played heroes of the poor, finished second in the 2010 presidential race won by
incumbent Benigno Aquino.
Estrada
has said repeatedly that result vindicated his stance that powerful political
and business figures had conspired to oust him from power unfairly.
Some
of the roughly 500 supporters who crowded around Estrada as he registered at
the election office on Tuesday also said he had been framed for corruption.
"I
don't believe he was involved. That was just black propaganda," said April
Medina, 28, an unemployed mother of a baby boy.
Many
of Manila's 1.6 million people live in slums, and large parts of the the city
where the country's former colonial Spanish rulers were based are dilapidated.
Estrada's
main opponent will be Alfredo Lim, 82, the incumbent mayor who is also very
popular with the masses.
Lim,
a former policeman, earned the nickname of "Dirty Harry" in the 1990s
during an initial stint as mayor for closing down Manila's strip bars and
marking the homes of suspected drug pushers with spray paint.
Many
other colourful figures have hit the headlines during this week's registration
period for the midterm elections.
Imelda
Marcos, the 83-year-old widow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, will run for
re-election as a congresswoman, her chief of staff told AFP on Monday.
World
boxing champion Manny Pacquiao later registered to run for re-election as
congressman for the southern province of Sarangani, with his wife Jinkee filing
to stand for vice-governor.
The
boxer, whose victories in the ring have made him a national hero, also
announced that his youngest brother Rogelio would run for congressman for the
neighbouring province of South Cotabato under his People's Champ Movement.
Many
Philippine politicians draft in relatives to stand for other elective positions
to spread their influence and strengthen their power networks.
-source: msn.com.ph
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