Former President Joseph Estrada, mayoral candidate for Manila, was criticizing his rival, Mayor Alfredo Lim, and the Manila police for not being able to curb criminality in the city during the Kapihan sa Manila forum at the Diamond Hotel last Monday when I got a note that a former Manila cop wanted to respond to all of Erap’s criticisms of the police. I told him to come forward.
Erap says his run in Manila will be his last hurrah. “I was born in Manila, I first became a famous actor in Manila, so my career has come full circle. This is my last hurrah.” He owes it to the poor, he says, for being there for him throughout his public life, even well after he was ousted as president. “The poor did not leave me and supported me all the way. I am returning the favor.”
The “morning face-off” last Tuesday between Manila Mayor Fred Lim and deposed President Joseph Estrada, on ABS-CBN, plumbed a new low in political discourse. Indeed, to call it “discourse” is to drain the word of almost all meaning.
A day after election candidates in Manila signed a “peace covenant,” reelectionist Mayor Alfredo Lim declared war on reelectionist Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso and five councilors by having them arrested. Their alleged crime: engaging in “illegal gambling” by sponsoring a bingo game that drew some 500 people in the Blumentritt area.
Politics has transformed bingo, that numbers game popular in low-income communities, into a heated controversy between Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and the Manila police on the one hand, and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada and incumbent Vice President Jejomar Binay on the other.
Erap had some very interesting things to say last weekend. His political sortie in Manila, he said, would be his last. “This is my last hurrah. No more, no way.”
Renato Corona says it’s persecution—that is, the Bureau of Internal Revenue filing tax evasion charges against him. No so, and not so fast, says BIR chief Kim Henares. The case is backed by prima facie evidence that came to light in his impeachment trial.
Kudos to Conrado de Quiros for being fearless and incisive in his commentaries.
The Liberal Party must be desperate, says Erap Estrada. Proof of it is that it’s trying to pirate some UNA members. “That only shows they cannot complete their lineup.”
Erap is pissed off with Koko Pimentel. He can’t get a meeting with him to thresh out his differences with Miguel Zubiri.
“Give and forgive in order to be happy.” That’s the advice Joseph Estrada has for Koko Pimentel who refuses to join UNA (United Nationalist Alliance) unless it drops Juan Miguel Zubiri. Zubiri served for four years as senator before he stepped down from his post last year when it became apparent he had benefited from electoral fraud in 2007.
Last Monday’s BusinessWorld (BW) headline “Ratings low for Aquino” was accurate, in the sense that President Noynoy Aquino’s new net satisfaction rating of +42, based on 63 percent satisfied and 21 percent dissatisfied with his performance, in the Social Weather Survey of May 24-27, 2012, happened to be his lowest since he took office.
