Lim greets Erap on 76th birthday, Binay wishes for ‘landscape victory’

 MANILA, Philippines - Re-electionist Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim yesterday greeted former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada on his 76th birthday.

“Happy birthday. I wish he will live longer and stay healthy,” he said of his former ally, now his rival for Manila’s top post.

Lim said the idea of reconciliation “now or even after the elections” is all up to Estrada.

Vice President Jejomar Binay, on the other hand, skipped the celebration of Estrada’s birthday to attend a campaign sorties in Agoo, La Union.

However, he did have a birthday wish for Estrada.

“He said he wants a landscape victory,” he said in jest, referring to Estrada’s use of malapropisms to lighten up his interviews and speeches.

Binay said he is the only one of the United Nationalist Alliance’s so-called “three kings” available to join the nationwide campaign rallies.

He said Estrada is busy with his own campaign in Manila while Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile is dealing with his eye problem.

Estrada visited yesterday the Asociacion de Damas Filipinas Inc. (ADFI) settlement house on President Quirino Avenue in Paco for his 76th birthday.

Estrada had been regularly visiting the ADFI, which he helped rebuild after it was destroyed by fire in 1998.

Asked what his birthday message is, Estrada urged Manilans not to lose hope because the city is “going to back to its glory days.”

Lim, on the other hand, visited the Baseco Evacuation Center and touched base with the market vendors of the newly built President Cory Aquino public market. – Rey Galupo, Alexis Romero