MANILA, May 15- Former Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada (photo) appeared to be headed for victory as the next mayor of Manila after Monday’s mid-term elections, Xinhua news agency reported.
By a slim margin, 76-year-old Estrada or known as Erap to his friends and supporters has trounced incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, 83, in one of the most hotly contested local elections in the country.
Estrada, a former movie actor, started his political career as mayor of the suburban town of San Juan before becoming a senator, vice president and eventually president in the l998 elections.
However, his six-year term was cut short when a military-backed civilian uprising, now known as Second EDSA People Power rebellion, ousted him from power in early 2001.
He was succeeded by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. After falling from power, Estrada was charged and convicted for plunder and sentenced to life imprisonment but was immediately pardoned by President Arroyo.
During the campaign for the latest polls, Estrada said he wanted to end his political career by serving as mayor of Manila. “Manila is the nerve centre of the Philippines. Malacanang (presidential palace) is in Manila and its glory should be restored.
I want to dedicate the last few years of my life to Manila,” he said. Former President Arroyo is also headed to serve another term in the House of Representatives as unofficial results on Monday night showed her leading her closest opponent in the second congressional district in Pampanga, Arroyo’s home province some 100 km north of Manila.
Arroyo is facing a string of criminal charges and is now under hospital arrest in a suburban medical facility. Former First Lady Imelda Marcos is also winning by a big margin in her reelection bid as representative from the second district of Ilocos Norte, home province of her late husband former dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
In the senatorial race, it also appeared that the team handpicked by President Benigno Aquino III is heading for a big win. As of midnight Monday when some 30 million votes or 70 percent of the total votes cast were canvassed, nine candidates from Aquino’s team were in the winning list while only three were from the opposition group headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay.
The country, with a population of about 100 million, has 52 million registered voters. The winning senatorial slate is headed by Grace Poe, daughter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., who ran but lost to Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election.
Later, however, there were reports that the 2004 polls were rigged in favour of Arroyo. Since a majority of the 12 incoming senators are from the coalition formed by Aquino, it is a foregone conclusion that incumbent Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile would be on his way out.
Officials of the ruling Liberal Party are saying that LP chairman Franklin Drilon and concurrently a senator would assume the senate presidency when the Philippine Congress resumes its sessions in July.
Drilon has been senate president before. While police authorities have said that Monday’s balloting was relatively peaceful compared to previous elections, it was marred by election-related violence, rampant vote-buying, intimidations and computer glitches.
The Philippine National Police said there were 81 cases of election-related violence with 20 deaths during the campaign period compared to more than a hundred in the 2010 elections.
In a statement Monday, the PNP said only 13 election-related incidents occurred on election day with two casualties and nine wounded. A casualty was reported in a shooting incident in Sulu in Southern Philippines and another in an incident in Quaipo, Manila.
Despite efforts by the Commission on Elections to stop politicians from buying votes, money changed hands in many parts of the country on Monday with most given to impoverished voters. Reports said that in central and northern Luzon, vote-buying went on fromSunday night until voters went to the polls Monday.
Allegations have also emerged of attempts to tinker with automated ballot scanners to favour certain candidates.
-BERNAMA
