Jackie Ejercito to turn ‘Palengke Queen’ for father’s Manila campaign

Former President Joseph Estrada. Photo by Jamie Marie Elona/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Former first daughter Jacqueline “Jackie” Ejercito Lopez will actively campaign for her father, former President Joseph Estrada, in his campaign for the mayoral seat in Manila.

Lopez, who has lived in a gated and posh subdivision all her life, will venture into “the wet markets” of the City of Manila, to court the votes of Manila residents for her father in the next few weeks.

“I will be the new Palengke Queen,’’ Lopez told the Philippine Daily  Inquirer at the sidelines of Estrada’s proclamation rally last Sunday at the Liwasang Bonifacio.

Aside from wearing the signature Erap orange shirt, Lopez sported a temporary tattoo caricature of Estrada on her upper right arm.

Lopez said Estrada’s other children and relatives also had temporary tattoos of Estrada on their right arms for the campaign.

Estrada’s daughter vowed to visit all the wet markets in Manila to push her dad’s candidacy.

“I intend to visit all the markets in the city to campaign and at the same time to observe how these places can be improved,’’ she said.

Lopez, who founded Kabataang MakaEdukasyon (KAME) Foundation in 1997 when her father was the vice-president, said she would be willing to help in any way that would be effective for her father’s campaign.

Lopez said she would love to help beautify the city of Manila.

“I will be glad to help my father in whatever way, but most of all, I would like to help in the improvements and beautification of the city,’’ she said.

When Estrada was the country’s president, Lopez said she was active in the KAME Foundation, which was founded to improve the level of education and increase the number of indigent children going to schools.