MANILA, Philippines - Former President Joseph Estrada said yesterday he is confident most Filipinos would support him when he runs for president next year based on the turnout of voters who elected former first lady Luisa Ejercito and his son, Jinggoy Estrada to the Senate while he was detained.“I will not run for the presidency if I’m not sure I’ll win,” he said.
Estrada will formally announce his decision to run for president at the Sto. Niño Church in Tondo, Manila on Wednesday next week.
Estrada said his edge would be his experience as San Juan mayor, senator, vice president, and eventually as the 13th president.
He expects the administration to block his candidacy when he joins the race for the presidency next year.
Estrada said he was confident he would beat any legal challenge to his presidential bid.
“I commissioned some retired Supreme Court justices, deans of law schools and other legal luminaries, and they all agreed that I can still run,” he said.
Estrada told The STAR the executive clemency which President Arroyo had granted him has restored all his political rights, including his right to vote and to run for office.
He had already exercised his right to vote after his release from six years of detention, he added.
His political party, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino remains intact to back his presidential bid next year, he added.
Estrada has chosen Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay as his vice-presidential running mate when he runs again for president next year.
Confident of victory, Estrada said he will formally announce his decision to run for president at the Sto. Niño Church in Tondo, Manila on Wednesday next week.
Estrada said his edge would be his experience as San Juan mayor, senator, vice president, and eventually as the 13th president.
“I will not run for the presidency if I’m not sure I’ll win,” he said.
Speaking on GMA-7 television, Binay said Estrada informed him about his decision last week.
“Former President Estrada told me that he is taking me as his vice president,” he said.
“It’s an honor. Both of us are advocating for the poor. That will be the final tandem of the opposition in 2010.”
Having served as mayor in Makati for two decades, he said people can be assured that he would be a better public servant as vice president.
Binay said Estrada has all the reasons to run again for president as he is highly qualified for the post.
“I hope he (Estrada) will be allowed to finish his term once he wins in the 2010 presidential elections,” he said.
Comprising Estrada’s senatorial slate are: Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., former Optical Media Board chairman Edu Manzano, Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza, detained Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, lawyer Aquilino Pimentel III and Grace Poe-Llamanzares, daughter of the late action star Fernando Poe Jr.
Margaux Salcedo, Estrada’s spokeswoman, said the list only has 11 names, with one more slot left open for a possible guest candidate. “Senator Santiago is a guest candidate of UNO (United Opposition),” she said. – Jose Rodel Clapano
Source: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=514321&publicationSubCategoryId=63
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