Lim, at 85, is raring to get back Manila mayoral post from Estrada

Mayor Alfredo Lim and Joseph Estrada. FILE PHOTO

Former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim officially reentered the race for the city’s top post on Tuesday, more than two years after losing to Joseph Estrada whose first acts upon taking over included blaming Lim for the local government’s “bankruptcy.”

Apparently remembering how the victorious Estrada lashed at his administration in 2013, Lim said: “Is there any government that is debt-free? Even America has debts. The government funds I left after my leadership were all documented.”

“I have been in the government service for more than 50 years and I have never been charged for stealing money from the people’s treasury,” Lim said in an apparent dig at the former president’s conviction for plunder in 2007, six years after being ousted from Malacañang amid corruption scandals. Estrada was later pardoned by his successor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The 85-year-old Lim filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) in the local Commission on Elections office in Arroceros, Manila. First becoming famous as Manila’s “Dirty Harry” during his years as the city’s police chief, Lim later served as mayor from 1992 to 1998 and again from 2007 to 2013.

He is gunning for a political comeback in the 2016 local elections under the Liberal Party. Manila Rep. Benjamin ‘Atong’ Asilo filed his COC as Lim’s running mate.

Estrada is expected to file his COC for a second term as mayor on Wednesday. Honey Lacuna Pangan, the current chief of the city’s social welfare department, would be his running mate, the mayor disclosed on Tuesday

A three-cornered fight for the city’s mayoralty has taken shape, with Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing filing his CoCon Monday with Councilor Ali Atienza as his running mate. SFM

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