Joseph Ejercito Estrada (Erap para sa Mahirap)

Joseph Marcelo Ejercito Estrada was born on April 19, 1937, in Tondo, Manila. His parents, Engr. Emilio Ejercito and Maria Marcelo, moved to San Juan where he grew up and where he continues to reside to this day. His primary education was obtained at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Manila University. He later took up an Engineering course at the Mapua Institute of Technology.

In his early twenties, he became a movie actor by accident but later proved himself to be an accomplished thespian, starring in a string of well-received films that earned him the title of a living legend in local filmdom. More popularly known as Erap, he is a five-time Best Actor awardee – a feat he repeated by winning the Best Picture award an equal number of times. This earned him a rare place in the FAMAS Hall of Fame in 1981 and 1984, respectively.

He entered politics in 1967, was elected and re-elected mayor of the Municipality (now City) of San Juan which he served with dedication and distinction for more than 16 continuous years. Unfortunately, he was one of hundreds of local officials who were asked to step down in the aftermath of the 1986 EDSA revolution. When he left his post, the San Juan Municipal treasury registered P24-million in savings.

In 1972, he was selected as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration by the Philippine Jaycees. He was also voted Outstanding Mayor and foremost Nationalist by the Inter-Provincial Information Service in 1971 and awarded the coveted title, “Most Outstanding Metro Manila Mayor,” the following year by the Philippine Princeton Poll.

His administration of San Juan was marked by unequaled accomplishments in infrastructure development. These included the establishment of the first san Juan Municipal High School, the Agora complex, a modern slaughterhouse, a sprawling Government Center with a post Office, a mini-park and the concreting of 98 percent of San Juan’s roads and alleys.

His administration of San Juan was marked by unequaled accomplishments in infrastructure development. These included the establishment of the first san Juan Municipal High School, the Agora complex, a modern slaughterhouse, a sprawling Government Center with a post Office, a mini-park and the concreting of 98 percent of San Juan’s roads and alleys.

As mayor, he paid particular attention to the elementary education of school-age children by improving and renovating school buildings and constructing additional school structures, health centers, barangay halls and playgrounds in all the barangays and providing artesian wells to areas with low water supply. He relocated some 1,800 squatter families out of San Juan to Taytay, Rizal, at no cost to the affected families. He was also the first mayor to computerize assessment of the Real Estate Tax in the Municipal Assessor’s Office.

For the movie industry, he established the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (MOWELFUND), Inc. which has now become a robust organization that provides industry workers with financial and professional assistance. His efforts to upgrade and professionalize the film industry have resulted in substantial benefits to all movie personnel, from directors and actors down to the lowest crewmen.

He is the Founder and President of the ERAP Para sa Mahirap Foundation, a foundation that offers scholarship assistance to poor but deserving college students. Through the foundation’s educational grants, more than a thousand students have since earned a college degree.

He also established the San Juan Progress Foundation, the San Juan Police and Fire Trust Fund and the Friends of Joseph Estrada, which offers free burial assistance for the poor folks of San Juan.

In 1987, he set his sights on a Senate run and handily garnered a seat. He was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Works. He was Vice-Chairman of the Committees on Health, Natural Resources and Ecology and Urban Planning.

In the Senate, Joseph Ejercito Estrada was credited with the passage of, among other major pieces of legislation, the bills on irrigation project and the protection and propagation of carabaos, the beast of burden in the rural areas.

As a senator, he was one of the so-called “Magnificent 12” who voted to terminate the RP-US Military Bases Agreement leading to the withdrawal of American servicemen from the Clark Air Base in Pampanga and the Subic Naval Base in Zambales.

In 1989, the Free Press cited him as one of the Three Outstanding Senators of the Year. He was conferred the degree of Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by the Bicol University in April 1997, and the University of Pangasinan in 1990.

Joseph Ejercito Estrada, who won as Vice-President in 1992 under a mixed ticket, was also designated as Presidential Adviser on Crime Prevention and Law

Enforcement with a Cabinet rank and served concurrently as Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC). AS PACC chairman, he was a member of the National Security Council.

The notable accomplishments of the PACC against kidnappers and bank robbers, together with “hoodlums in uniform,” “hoodlums in robes” and illegal recruiters, earned for Chairman Estrada a performance rating of 85 percent in public opinion polls.

He funded the Philippine Drug Abuse Resistance Education (PhilDARE) Program on August 24, 1993, to address the growing problem of drug abuse among the youth.

His role in establishing peace and order, however, was cut short by the issuance of Executive Order No. 221 in January 1995, which clipped the PACC’s operational control over its task forces. He resigned as PACC chairman on June 4, 1997.

He reached the pinnacle of his political career when he was elected President of the Republic in the May 11, 1998 national elections. With almost 11-million Filipinos writing his name on the ballot, his margin of victory was the biggest ever registered in Philippine electoral history.

Speaking before millions gathered at his inaugural address in Manila, the newly-elected chief executive said his presidency would serve the Filipino masses whose welfare had long been neglected. A line from his speech, “Walang kaibigan, walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak,” was a stern warning against anyone who would attempt to undermine his administration with influence-peddling.

Determined to bring his pro-poor platform to every facet of the government’s operations, he immediately ordered the removal of all sovereign guarantees on contracts for public projects which would require the sovereign Filipino people to assume the financial losses of private companies doing business with the government. Records will show that until January 20, 2001, he did not sign a single government contract with a sovereign guarantee.

Committed to cleaning the bureaucracy of undesirable elements, he ordered the immediate relief of corrupt officials in the military and police hierarchy. He ordered a wide-ranging investigation of all government contracts entered into by the previous administration to ensure these were above-board and directly advantageous to the citizenry.

He ordered the investigation of suspected big-time tax evaders even if some of these individuals had contributed to his presidential campaign.

His pro-poor program of government bore fruit in less than two years, with a significant improvement in the country’s peace and order situation. This likewise elicited a proportionate rise in the approval rating of the Philippine National Police.

The Estrada administration undertook an aggressive housing program on a national basis, targeting low-cost homes for the poor.

Agriculture received greater priority, while the national government likewise took steps to bring down the cost of medicine.

Foreign investments grew exponentially, benefiting greatly from the unsullied and esteemed reputation of the best and the brightest chosen to be part of his Cabinet, and even more from his reputation as a strongly nationalistic yet progressive president.

Tragically, a cabal of disgruntled businessmen dissatisfied with his pro-poor stance joined forces with elitist members of civil society and a number of high-ranking Catholic priests to put in motion a movement to steal his presidency by first destroying his reputation and employing a false witness with a dubious character and shadowy background to spearhead this.

The Senate impeachment trial, a constitutional process initiated to determine the truth behind the allegations of corruption hurled by the false witness, ended abruptly in mid-January 2001 when prosecutors staged a walk-out after senators voted against the opening of a document which had no bearing whatsoever on the cases filed before the tribunal.

With the second highest official of the land and her husband working secretly with this group and courting the military sector’s support, things came to a head on the 20th of January 2001 with the leave of absence filed by Joseph Estrada and his temporary departure from Malacanang.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the legality of the Macapagal-Arroyo presidency, he was arrested at his San Juan home in the afternoon of April 25, 2001 on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued by the Sandiganbayan for the crime of plunder filed by his political enemies.

The painfully humiliating nature of his arrest sparked massive indignation from his millions of supporters, many of whom converged at the EDSA Shrine to demand his release and reinstatement. On the eve of May 1, 2001, a fraction of the estimated three-million who gathered in EDSA marched to Malacanang to bring their case before Mrs. Arroyo but were met with brutal police and military force.

A long-drawn out trial before the Sandiganbayan special division gave his defense panel the opportunity to map out in unequivocal terms the inconsistencies and impossibilities inherent in the plunder charges filed against him, primarily on the strength of the false witness’s testimony.

In candid moments, however, he acknowledged the improbability of obtaining a fair verdict from a “kangaroo court” which was widely believed to have been created for the sole purpose of ensuring his conviction.

His incarceration continued for more than six years, with only his place of detention changing: the Veterans Memorial Medical Center, Camp Capinpin in Tanay, and finally at his Tanay rest house where he remained until he was freed in October 25, 2007 on the strength of an unconditional pardon.

Today, Joseph Estrada – the private citizen – spends most of his hours making up for lost time by visiting urban poor neighborhoods in what he calls a “Lakbay Pasasalamat” (thanksgiving caravan) to thank residents for their unstinting support for him despite being away for so long.

From June to July of 2008, Estrada’s civic calendar had him bringing humanitarian and relief missions to several provinces severely affected by torrential rains and floods spawned by typhoon Frank. Together with well-meaning friends and associates, Estrada toured devastated barangays and communities in the Panay peninsula – including Iloilo, Aklan, and more recently Romblon – to distribute relief packs of rice, medicines, and canned goods. His visits included meetings with local officials to determine how best to assist these communities in the long-haul goal of rising from the ruins.

He is likewise picking up where his other pro-poor programs and anti-hunger advocacies left off, calling for greater public support for initiatives that can uplift the lives of millions of Filipinos living in sub-human conditions, at a time when successive fuel price increases and the rice price crisis threaten their survival.

Known to many as Erap, he is married to former Senator Dr. Luisa Pimentel by whom he has three children, namely Jinggoy, who is now a senator of the realm, Jacqueline and Jude.

Fernando Poe, Jr. - King of Philippine Movies

Ronald Allan Kelley Poe (August 20, 1939 – December 14, 2004), better known as Fernando Poe, Jr. and colloquially known as FPJ and Da King, was a Filipino actor and cultural icon. From the 1950s, Poe played steadfast film heroes who fight for the common man, which won him respect and admiration. He did not complete high school but went on to win numerous awards and prizes as an actor and film director. During the latter part of his career, he ran an unsuccessful bid for President of the Philippines in the 2004 presidential election against the former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

He was honored on May 24, 2006 as Philippine National Artist through Philippine Proclamation No. 1065.^[1]

Ronald Allan K. Poe was born on August 20, 1939 in Manila, Philippines, of Filipinos of Pangasinan people, Spanish, Kapampangan, and Irish American extraction, the son of actor-producer-director Fernando Poe, Sr. of San Carlos City, Pangasinan (1916–1951) and Bessie Gatbonton Kelley (1918–1999) of Candaba, Pampanga.^{[2] [3]} His mother, Bessie Kelley, was an American and sometimes called Elizabeth Kelley in some sources especially in Philippine press.^[4][5][6] His mother's parents, Arthur Kelley (WWI Army Corp of Engineer from Iowa, USA) was an Irish American who settled in the Philippines and Martha Gatbonton, a Filipina of mixed Kapampangan and Spanish heritage. Poe Jr.'s parents were not legally married yet when he was born in 1939. His parents later married in 1940.^[7] He was the second of six siblings, born after Elizabeth and before Fernando II (Andy), Genevieve (Jenny), Fredrick (Freddieboy), and Evangeline. His name at birth was Ronald Allan Kelley Poe; his brother Andy was the legal Fernando Poe Jr.

Actor Conrad Poe was his half-brother, the illegitimate son of Fernando Poe, Sr. by actress Patricia Mijares.^[8] The original family surname was spelled Pou from his grandfather, playwright Lorenzo Pou, a Catalan migrant from Majorca, Spain, who ventured into mining and business in the Philippines.^[8] As his father was a famous actor, Poe had small parts in several movies of the 1940s. However, Fernando Poe, Sr. died in 1951 after a rabid puppy licked his wounds. Poe finished primary education in 1953 at San Beda College. For high school, he went to San Sebastian College, Mapua Institute of Technology, and University of the East.^[9] After the death of his father, he dropped out of the University of the East in his sophomore year in order to work to support his family. He worked odd jobs, including as a cleaner, a messenger boy and a stuntman, before becoming a full-time actor. He then adopted the screen name Fernando Poe, Jr..^[9][10]

Poe dropped out of high school to work in the Filipino film industry as a messenger boy, and was given acting roles in subsequent years.^[9] Starting as a stuntman for Everlasting Pictures, he was given a break and landed his first starring role in the movie Anak ni Palaris (Son of Palaris) at the age of 14. The movie was not a big hit. In 1957, the movie Lo Waist Gang made him popular,^[9] and the film was such a big hit that low-waist pants became a fad.

Known also as FPJ from his initials, Poe acted in a number of movies which depicted him as the champion of the poor and downtrodden. He also directed nine movies, under the pseudonym Ronwaldo Reyes. Reyes originated from the surname of his paternal grandmother, Martha. The name Ronwaldo Reyes also alliterates to Ronald Reagan, who like Poe, was an actor who later ran for President.

He established FPJ productions in 1961 and later organized other film companies such as D'Lanor, JAFERE, and Rosas Productions. In 1963, he and Joseph Estrada testified against criminal gangs, known as the Big Four, who extorted money from the film industry.^[11] In 1965, he shared the lead in The Ravagers, a film depicting the United States and the Philippines working together against Japanese war time occupation. The film is considered one of the most influential Filipino films, and it helped establish Fernando Poe, Jr.'s status as a movie icon.

Poe became an award-winning actor and garnered the most best actor awards at the FAMAS. Among the movies that received awards were Mga Alabok ng Lupa (1967), Asedillo (1971), Durugin si Totoy Bato, Umpisahan Mo, Tatapusin Ko (1983), and Muslim Magnum .357 (1987).^[12]

Poe was dubbed as the "Da King" of Philippine movies because of his box office hits. He made over 200 films in his lifetime and ran a successful movie production firm. Among his famous movies include playing Flavio in the mythical Ang Panday series, Kahit Konting Pagtingin, Dito sa Pitong Gatang and Aguila. His last movie was Pakners which also stars 9-ball billiards champion Efren "Bata" Reyes.

Fernando Poe Jr., was the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP)'s candidate for the 2004 presidential election. A public figure in his movie career and known for his charitable but unpublicized endeavours, he targeted his candidacy at the same poor whom he championed in his movies.

Poe accepted the nomination in December 2003 and was to be the standard opposition bearer for the Philippines' 2004 presidential election.^[13] Some accounts portray him as a reluctant candidate who was only prevailed upon to accept the nomination by his best friend, former President Joseph Estrada. But other accounts say he was convinced to cast his bid for the presidency because of the overwhelming crowd that gathered for the first rally of the FPJ for President Movement at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.

He is the best friend of the former President and actor Erap Estrada. Poe married actress Susan Roces(real name Jesusa Sonora) in December 1968 in a civil wedding. They were later married in a church and among their primary sponsors were then President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos. They adopted their only daughter, current MTRCB Chairman Mary Grace Poe-Llamanzares.

Although a famous public figure, Poe had been very reclusive about his personal life. However, in February, 2004, during the presidential campaign, Poe admitted to having sired children out of wedlock. His two children are Ronian (Ron Allan) with former actress Anna Marin, and daughter Lovi Poe with former actress Rowena Moran.

Poe was admitted to Saint Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City on the evening of December 11, 2004 after complaining of dizziness at a gathering in his production studio premise.^[14] He suffered from a stroke and slipped into a coma while being treated for a brain clot. Doctors described his condition as a cerebral thrombosis with multiple organ failure.^[15] He died at the age of 65 on December 14 at 12:01 am, without regaining consciousness.^[15] Friends and allies from the movie and political worlds were at his bedside. He left behind his wife actress Susan Roces and daughter, Mary Grace, along with his other children, son, Ronian, and daughter, Lovi.

The nine day wake was attended by hundreds of thousands, with organizers claiming numbers as high as two million.^[16] The funeral procession drew tens of thousands who crowded the streets of Quezon City, an event that was reminiscent of the funeral processions of Ninoy Aquino in 1983 and matinee idol Julie Vega in 1985. He was buried in his family plot along with his father and mother in North Cemetery, Manila, Philippines.