Joseph Ejercito Estrada (born Jose Marcelo Ejercito on April 19, 1937) was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until his ouster in the 2001 EDSA Revolution.
Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over 100 films in an acting career spanning 33 years. He leveraged his popularity as an actor to make gains in politics, serving as mayor of San Juan for seventeen years, as Senator for one term, then as Vice President of the Philippines under the administration of President Fidel Ramos.
Estrada was elected President in 1998 with a wide margin of votes separating him from the other challengers, and was sworn into the presidency on June 30, 1998. However, allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from power after the trial was aborted. In 2007, he was found guilty of plunder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, but was later granted a pardon by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Early life and career
Joseph Marcelo Ejercito, popularly known as Erap, was born on April 19, 1937 in Tondo, the poorest district of Manila. He belonged to an upper middle class family, and was the eighth of ten children of Emilio Ejercito, a government engineer, and his wife Maria Marcelo.[1] He finished his primary studies at the Ateneo de Manila University, but was expelled in his sophomore year of high school for unruly behavior.[1] He went to Mapúa Institute of Technology to continue schooling with an engineering course, but dropped out from studies altogether two years later.
In his twenties, he began a career as a film actor. He adopted the screen name "Joseph Estrada", as his father objected to his chosen career and his decision to quit schooling.[1] He also acquired the nickname "Erap" (a play on the Tagalog word "pare", meaning buddy) from his good friend Fernando Poe, Jr..
Early Political Career
[edit] Mayor of San Juan
Estrada entered politics in 1967 when he ran for mayor of San Juan, a municipality of Metro Manila, in 1968 and ended up losing his bid for mayor. He was only proclaimed mayor in 1969, after winning an electoral protest against Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo. As mayor of San Juan he turned it to one of Metro Manila's outstanding municipality (now a city). He built public schools both for elementary and high school and had children go to school for free. He also built parks, playgrounds, and modern police stations.[4] When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, all officials of the local government suspected of malfeasance and anomalies were removed and replaced by appointed officers-in-charge. Estrada was then removed from his position as mayor.
[edit] Senator of the Philippines
The following year, he ran and won a seat in the Senate under the Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD). He placed 16th place in the said elections (out of 24 winners). As senator he became chairman of the senate committee on cultural minorities and passed a bill on commission on ancestral domain. He also sponsored bills that were signed into law, namely, The Preservation of the Carabao (Republic Act no. 7307)[5] and The Construction of Irrigation Projects (Republic Act no. 6978)
Vice-Presidency
In 1992, Joseph Estrada ran for vice-president as the running mate of Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. under the Nationalist People's Coalition party. Though the latter lost to former National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, Estrada won the vice-presidency garnering more votes than his closest opponent, Ramon Mitra, Jr.'s running mate, Marcelo Fernan.
As Vice-President, President Ramos appointed him as the chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). Estrada arrested criminal warlords and kidnapping syndicates[7]. He resigned as chairman of the PACC on 1997. In 1997 Vice-President Estrada, together with former President Corazon Aquino, Jaime Cardinal Sin, Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and other political leaders, led an anti-charter change rally brought in an estimated half a million people to Rizal Park against the charter change moves by supporters of President Fidel Ramos.
1998 Presidential Elections
Estrada’s political strategists and financial backers were aware that a large share of the Philippine electorate, the "masa" (the poor and undereducated masses), were looking for a leadership they could relate to. Estrada’s financial backers designed a campaign strategy that reflected Estrada’s pro-poor image that he had built up throughout his movie career. Central in the campaign was Estrada’s campaign slogan "Erap para sa Mahirap" (Erap for the poor) that succeeded in inspiring the masses with the hope that Estrada would be the president of and for the masses. Estrada's running mate, Edgardo Angara, was defeated by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. During the campaign, Estrada's political rivals tried but failed to discredit him while publicizing his womanizing, drinking and gambling.
Presidency
Estrada was inaugurated on June 30, 1998 in the historical town of Malolos in Bulacan province in paying tribute to the cradle of the First Philippine Republic. That afternoon the new president delivered his inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta. He assumed office amid the Asian Financial Crisis and with agricultural problems due to poor weather conditions, thereby slowing the economic growth to -0.6% in 1998 from a 5.2% in 1997.[9] The economy recovered by 3.4% in 1999 and 4% in 2000.[10] In 2000 he declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured it's headquarters and other camps[11][12]. However, allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted from power after the trial was aborted.
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