Erap-Bongbong tandem in the works?

MANILA, Philippines - City Hall sources revealed yesterday that the tandem of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada and Sen. Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is in the works for the 2016 presidential race.

The source said Marcos visited Estrada last Wednesday in his office at Manila City Hall.

”The mayor is open to that idea, especially if Sen. Grace Poe and Vice President Jejomar Binay are both disqualified due to the problem on citizenship of Sen. Poe and the charges filed by the Vice President’s political detractors against him,” the source said.

The source, however, refused to give further details on Marcos’ courtesy call on Estrada.

In a press conference on Monday, Estrada told reporters that he is bent on running for re-election.

However, Estrada said that he might be forced to run for president again if Poe and Binay are disqualified.

Estrada is the founder of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino and one of the organizers of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), a coalition of PMP and Binay’s Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) where Estrada and Binay ran for president and vice president respectively in the 2010 elections. Esterda lost to then senator Benigno Aquino III while Binay won.

Estrada said he would be filing his certificate of candidacy on the last day for filing of candidacies for the 2016 electins.

“I will file my candidacy on Oct. 16… to give way to my fallback position and to give the people surprises,” Estrada said.

Estrada said he welcomes an Erap-Bongbong tandem, but the only thing that could convince him to run for president again is if Poe and Binay are disqualified.

“The presidency is providential. Like Noynoy, had his mother not died, he would never have become president. When the late former President Cory Aquino was still alive, Noynoy’s name was not even considered in the vice presidential race. Noynoy will not win if no one died,” Estrada said.

Estrada said that the PMP has not started any negotiation yet for a coalition with any political party, including the UNA, now the official political party of Binay.

He said he is not in a hurry to enter into a coalition with any political parties.

Estrada said that many of his supporters are willing to fund his presidential campaign again and have come calling.

“I still have my leaders in the provinces because I was second to P-Noy. I beat him in Mindanao,” Estrada said.

Estrada said that he is saddened by the fact that Binay is being subjected to constant “black propaganda.”

Tide turning

Meanwhile, Marcos believes that the political tide in the country has turned in favor of the Marcoses after years of “trial and tribulations.”

In a recent speech during the unveiling of the statue in honor of his late father former President Ferdinand Marcos in Sarrat, Ilocos Norte, the senator said the people now know the truth about the late president who ruled the country with an iron hand for two decades.

“After all the trials and tribulations that our family has been through over the past few years, now the tide has turned and people know the truth about Ferdinand Marcos, the truth about what he had done, and the truth about how he loved his country, how he loved Ilocos Norte, and how he expressed that love in the service of a lifetime,” he said. 

Marcos said when the former president was still alive he fed the hungry, clothed the naked and provided shelter.

“He provided all of the things needed by all of you. That is something that we sorely missed.”

Now that his father is gone it is up to the people to continue his legacy and honor his memory, he added.With Perseus Echeminada