DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines?The gloves are off.

Former President Joseph Estrada on Wednesday blasted one of his opponents who had commissioned the support of top celebrities, including his close friend Dolphy, in the May presidential election.

Without naming names, Estrada lamented the tack apparently used by Sen. Manuel Villar to boost his chances. Besides Dolphy, popular TV noontime show host Willie Revillame is also in the camp of Villar, said to be the highest-spender among all presidential hopefuls so far.

Estrada was confident that his own charisma was enough to draw people to him on the hustings and eventually, actual votes on election day.

?We have no celebrities with us so it means people come because of us,? he said in Filipino.

?First of all, we cannot afford them,? he said, referring to the likes of Revillame, who reportedly received millions in exchange for campaigning for Villar.

Estrada went on: ?It?s expensive. You even give away houses. My goodness! Where will I get that money? If I stole during my presidency, I would have had the money, but I didn?t do that.?

He was apparently referring to the noontime show segment wherein Villar, a businessman who built his own real estate empire, gave away houses in prizes.

Estrada said his campaign needed no celebrities because it was not a ?stage show? anyway. ?We are here to tell the people what our plans are for the country,? he said.

But Estrada himself is an actor, one who became popular by portraying the cause of the downtrodden in his movies. His latest movie was ?Ang Tanging Pamilya,? which is still being shown in ?mobile? theaters he has put up as part of this campaign around the country.

His son Sen. Jinggoy Estrada is also in show biz.