Estrada courts Manila seniors: ‘I will donate my salary’

COURTING MANILA The Joseph Estrada-Isko Moreno tandem courts voters one last time with a lot of help from Vice President Jejomar Binay. ARNOLD ALMACEN

For his last pitch before Monday’s big battle, Erap turns to the oldies.

Former President and now Manila mayoral candidate Joseph Estrada marked his miting de avance Friday night with a promise to improve the quality of life in the city, giving special mention to its senior citizens.

Estrada, himself a member of that age group at 76, said he will donate his salary to local government projects for the elderly should he win and unseat the reelectionist Alfredo Lim, 83.

‘PROFILE PIC’ Former President Joseph Estrada on Friday shows off the looks that led him to show biz and political stardom decades ago, hoping the same charisma can do wonders for him again in the race for the mayoralty in Manila. ARNOLD ALMACEN

“I will make the welfare of our elders a priority,” Estrada said before a crowd gathered by the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) at Plaza Morga in Moriones, Tondo.

The former movie star recalled that when he entered politics in 1967 and became mayor of San Juan town for 17 years, he donated his salary to a scholarship foundation.

“That’s why this time, in Manila, I will donate my salary to buy medicines and other things needed by our senior citizens,” Estrada said.

The Lim-Estrada rivalry is one of the most anticipated contests in the May 13 elections, pitting a former city police chief who had been elected Manila mayor four times, against a political kingpin who placed second when he sought the presidency again in 2010 despite his disgraceful ouster from Malacañang and conviction for plunder years earlier.

Meanwhile, Yul Servo, an actor running for councilor under Estrada’s ticket, said three major religious groups had pledged to support the former president.

“We have now the support of Iglesia ni Cristo, the Jesus is Lord movement and the El Shaddai,” Servo told reporters.

Friday night’s program, which featured sexy dancers and was hosted by TV personality Ruby Rodriguez and the comedian Wally, also played a video documentary narrated by Estrada and depicting the “deterioration” of Manila through the years.

In the video, Estrada noted Manila’s rising poverty and unemployment levels, “where even cops, because they don’t receive allowances, are forced to become robbers.”

When he became mayor of San Juan, he said, “peace reigned. There was only one bank then, and now there are 85.”

“That’s my experience in San Juan, and it’s not impossible for that to happen in Manila,” said Estrada, who relocated to Manila in May 2012 to meet the residency requirement for candidates.

The video also included a clip showing the late President Cory Aquino talking about “the injustice” done to Estrada when he was charged and convicted of plunder in 2007. Estrada was later pardoned by his successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. With Tessa Distor and Catherine Carvajal