Erap blames poor economy for lesser campaign funds

GAPAN, Nueva Ecija, Philippines – Former President Joseph Estrada yesterday blamed the poor economy for lesser contributions to the campaign fund of his party, the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino-United Opposition (PMP-UNO).

“We lack enough campaign funds. I cannot spend all that I earned from my movies, but there are few friends who are helping little. I just (work) double time with my campaign,” Estrada said in a press briefing here.

He said he has so far visited 75 of the more than 81 provinces.

“It is different now than (before) because of the economy of our country. That is why businessmen are also having difficulties,” he said.

Estrada, meanwhile, said his ranking third in recent surveys may still change a month or two weeks before the May 10 elections.

“The surveys are still unpredictable right now. Noli de Castro had been number 1 in the initial stage of the survey. But where is Noli now? Then Noynoy (Aquino) suddenly entered the picture. I just (work) double time in my campaign to reach as many people (as) we can,” he said.

Estrada said he is also banking on the intelligence of the Filipino voters in choosing the next president.

“For me, they can no longer buy the people and fool them. The people are already intelligent. Those who are spending much in the campaign will (recoup) their expenditures once they win,” he said.

Estrada said he would not give way to Aquino, contrary to what his detractors are feeding the public.

“That’s far-fetched. They were saying before that I would give way to Manny Villar. Now they are saying that I will give way to Noynoy. The people did not leave me even when I was still incarcerated. So, why should I leave them? It will be the last thing that I will ever do. They have all the black propaganda against me. Support will come one month before the elections. That is my experience even in 1998,” Estrada said.

For his part, Estrada’s son Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said they expect his father’s rating to improve in the next survey on the first week of March.

Estrada also admitted that the flow of campaign funds now is very much different than when his father ran for president and won by a landslide with more than 10 million votes in the 1998 presidential race.

Despite the lack of campaign funds, he, however, said they are overwhelmed by the warm support they have received in their sorties across the country.