Joseph Ejercito Estrada, KGCR ( born Jose Marcelo

Ejercito Sr.; April 19, 1937), also known by the

nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He
served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to
2001, the 9th vice president of the Philippines from 1992 to
1998, and the 26th mayor of the City of Manila, the country's
capital, from 2013 to 2019. In 2001, he became the first chief
executive in Asia to be formally impeached and resigned from
power. At the age of 86, he is currently the oldest living former
Philippine president.

Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over a hundred films in
an acting career spanning some three decades. He also worked as a model, beginning as a fashion
and ramp model at the age of 13. He used his popularity as an actor to make gains in politics,
serving as mayor of San Juan from 1969 to 1986, as senator from 1987 to 1992, then as vice
president under President Fidel V. Ramos from 1992 to 1998.

Estrada was elected president in 1998 with a wide margin of votes separating him from
the other challengers and was sworn into the presidency on June 30, 1998. In 2000, he declared
an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and
other camps. Allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001
Estrada was ousted by People Power 2 after the prosecution walked out of the impeachment
court when the senator-judges voted not to open an envelope that allegedly contained
incriminating evidence against him.

In 2007, Estrada was sentenced by a special division of

the Sandiganbayan to reclusion under a charge of plunder for the embezzlement of $80 million
from the government but was later granted a pardon by the president and his former
deputy, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He ran for president again in the 2010 presidential
election but was defeated by Senator Benigno Aquino III by a wide margin. He later served as
mayor of Manila for two terms, from 2013 to 2019.
EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
Joseph Estrada was born as Jose Marcelo Ejercito at 8:25 pm on April 19, 1937 in Tondo,
an urban district of Manila His family later moved to the wealthy suburb of San Juan, then a
municipality in the province of Rizal. He belonged to a wealthy family and was the eighth of ten
children of Emilio Ejercito Sr. (1899–1977) and his wife, Maria Marcelo (1906–2009). After
graduating from the Ateneo Elementary School in 1951, he was expelled during his second year
of secondary studies at the Ateneo High School for disciplinary conduct. Later during college, he
enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering course at the Mapua to please his father.
He would leave once again and later transferred to Central Colleges of the Philippines College of
Engineering but dropped out.

In his twenties, he began a career as a drama actor, usually playing the role of the
villain/antagonist. He adopted the stage name "Joseph Estrada", as his mother objected to his
chosen career and his decision to quit schooling multiple times. He also acquired the nickname
"Erap" (a play on the Tagalog slang "pare", meaning 'buddy') from his friend, fellow
actor Fernando Poe Jr.

Honorary Doctorates

o Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by the University of Pangasinan (1990)

o Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa by Bicol University (April 1997)

MARRAIGE AND FAMILY

Estrada is married to former First Lady-turned-senator Dr. Luisa "Loi" Pimentel, whom
he met while she was working at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH)
in Mandaluyong, and has three children with her:

o Jinggoy Estrada, mayor of San Juan (1992–2001); senator (2004–2016; 2022–present)

(married to Precy Vitug)
o Jackie Ejercito (formerly married to Beaver Lopez)
o Jude Ejercito (married to Rowena Ocampo)
 Extramarital affairs

Estrada also has eight children from several extramarital relationships. Two with
Peachy Osorio. Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito; Mayor of San Juan (2001–2010),
Representative of San Juan (2010–2013) and Senator (2013–2019; 2022–present) with
former San Juan Mayor Guia Gomez. One with a former air hostess who is known only
as Larena. Three including actor Jake Ejercito with Laarni Enriquez. One with Joy
Melendrez.

CAREER
In Popular Culture
Since the beginning of his political career, Estrada has been the butt of many jokes, called
"ERAP Jokes", in the Philippines. Most of the jokes about him center around his limited English
vocabulary, while others focus on his corruption scandals. During his presidential campaign in
1998, Estrada authorized the distribution of the joke compilation book ERAPtion: How to Speak
English Without Really Trial.

Estrada is the first president to have previously worked in the entertainment industry as a
popular artist, and the first to sport any sort of facial hair during his term, specifically his
trademark acting mustaches and wristbands.

Film Actor

Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over a hundred films in
an acting career spanning some three decades.

In 1974, Estrada founded the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund), which
helps filmmakers through medical reimbursements, hospitalization, surgery and death benefits,
livelihood, alternative income opportunities, and housing. Its educational arm, the Mowelfund
Film Institute, has produced some of the most skilled and respected producers, filmmakers,
writers, and performers in both the independent and mainstream sectors of the industry since its
inception in 1979. He also founded, together with Guillermo de Vega, the first Metro Manila
Film Festival in 1975.
 Film Awards

o 1975 Metro Manila Film Festival Best Actor for Diligin mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na
Lupa
o 1962 FAMAS Best Actor for Markang Rehas
o 1964 FAMAS Best Actor for Geron Busabos
o 1965 FAMAS Best Actor for Ang Batang Quiapo
o 1966 FAMAS Best Actor for Ito ang Pilipino
o 1969 FAMAS Best Actor for Patria Adorada
o 1981 FAMAS Best Actor for Kumander Alibasbas
o 1981 FAMAS Hall of Fame

Entry Into Politics

Mayor of San Juan (1969–1986)

Estrada entered politics in 1967, running for mayor of San Juan, failing and only
succeeding in 1969 after winning an electoral protest against Braulio Sto. Domingo. His
administration achieved many infrastructure developments. These included the
establishment of the first Municipal High School, the Agora complex, a modern
slaughterhouse, a sprawling government center with a post office, a mini-park, and the
paving of 98 percent of the town's roads and alleys.

As mayor, he paid particular attention to the elementary education of children by

improving and renovating school buildings, constructing additional school structures,
health centers, barangay halls, and playgrounds in all 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. He was also the first mayor to computerize the
assessment of the Real Estate Tax at the Municipal Assessor's Office. When Corazon
Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, all elected officials of the local government
were forcibly removed and replaced by appointed officers-in-charge, including Estrada.
Senator of the Philippines (1987–1992)

In 1987, Estrada won a seat in the Senate under the Grand Alliance for
Democracy (GAD) placing 14th in the elections (out of 24 winners). 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, Estrada sponsored bills on irrigation projects and the

protection and propagation of the carabao, the beast of burden in the rural areas.

Estrada and eleven other senators (dubbed the "Magnificent 12" in media coverage) voted
to terminate the RP-US Military Bases Agreement in 1991, 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
University of Pangasinan in 1990, and by the Bicol University in April 1997

Vice Presidency (1992–1998)

In 1992, Estrada initially ran for president under the Partido ng Masang
Pilipino (PMP), with Vicente Rivera Jr. as his running mate and fellow actor Fernando
Poe Jr. as his campaign manager. The Philippine film industry called for a 60-day
"moratorium" on all film projects by March for industry figures to help Estrada's
presidential campaign. However, Estrada reluctantly withdrew his bid on March 30 due
to financial issues and instead became the running mate of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. under
the Nationalist People's Coalition; Estrada expressed that the decision was "very painful,
if not traumatic". Though Cojuangco lost to former National Defense Secretary Fidel V.
Ramos for the presidency, Estrada won the vice-presidency garnering more votes than his
closest opponent Marcelo Fernan, Ramon Mitra Jr.'s running mate.

As vice president, Estrada was the chair of President Ramos' Presidential Anti-
Crime Commission (PACC). Estrada arrested criminal warlords and kidnapping
syndicates. He repeatedly topped surveys on government officials' performance
conducted by the Social Weather Stations within his first two years as vice president and
was named "Man of the Year" by ABS-CBN for 1993. He resigned as chair in 1997.

In the same year Estrada, together with former president Corazon Aquino,
Cardinal Jaime Sin, Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and other political leaders, led an
anti-charter change rally that brought in an estimated half a million people to Rizal
Park against the charter change moves by Ramos and his supporters.

In early 1993, Estrada established Club 419 in Cafe Ysabel within San Juan as a
private men's club for him and his friends, including Poe.

Presidency (1998–2001)

On June 30, 1998, Estrada took his oath of office at the historic Barasoain Church
in Malolos, Bulacan. He also gave his inaugural address at the Quirino Grandstand where
he promised to bring peace and harmony to the people and pledged to fight corruption
and continue the economic reforms of the previous Ramos administration. The elected
vice-president was Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from the LAKAS-NUCD.

"Erap Para sa Mahirap" became the campaign slogan of the presidency. He drove
his election campaign vehicle JEEP, which meant Justice, Economy, Environment, and
Peace.

Estrada was the first president to use a special name as his official address name,
combining his real family name, Ejercito, with his screen name, thus forming "Joseph
Ejercito Estrada". Estrada was inaugurated on June 30, 1998, in the historical town
of Malolos in Bulacan province in paying tribute to the cradle of the First Philippine
Republic. That afternoon the new president delivered his inaugural address at the Quirino
Grandstand in Luneta. He assumed office amid the Asian Financial Crisis and with
agricultural problems due to poor weather conditions, thereby slowing the economic
growth to −0.6% in 1998 from 5.2% in 1997. The economy recovered by 3.4% in 1999
and 4% in 2000. In 2000 he declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front (MILF) and captured its headquarters and other camps. Allegations of
corruption spawned a railroaded impeachment trial in the Senate courtesy of house
 speaker Manuel Villar, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted by a coup after the trial was
aborted.

Post - Presidency (2001–present)

Estrada returned to his old home in San Juan. He maintained that he never
resigned, implying that Arroyo's government was illegitimate.

The new government created a special court and charged him with plunder and
had him arrested in April. His supporters marched to the EDSA Shrine demanding
Estrada's release and his reinstatement as president but were dispersed by high-grade
teargas and warning shots from automatic rifles. On the morning of May 1, the protesters
marched straight to Malacañang Palace. Violence erupted and the government declared
a state of rebellion. Many protesters were injured and arrested, including politicians. The
government called out the military and was able to quell the demonstration with tear gas
and automatic rifles. The uprising came to be known as EDSA III.

Estrada was initially detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical

Center in Quezon City and then transferred to a military facility in Tanay, Rizal, but he
was later transferred to a nearby vacation home, virtually under house arrest. Under
Philippine law, plunder had the maximum penalty of death; the death penalty was
eventually repealed.

MAYOR OF MANILA
Estrada with members of the 10th City Council of Manila on July 13, 2016. In May 2012,
Estrada announced his intention to run for mayor of Manila in the 2013 elections to continue his
political career.

Around noon of May 14, 2013, the day after the conduct of the 2013 Philippine mid-term
elections, Estrada and his running-mate and re-electionist Vice Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno"
Domagoso were proclaimed mayor-elect and vice mayor-elect, respectively, by the City Board of
Canvassers for the City of Manila. When Estrada assumed office on June 30, 2013, the city
government coffers were practically bankrupt as his administration inherited as much as ₱5 or 8
billion in debts. During his first term as mayor of Manila, Estrada implemented a city-wide bus
ban, truck ban, and revival program especially on Escolta Street. In 2015, Estrada declared the
city debt-free after instituting various fiscal reforms.

Originally planning to serve for one term only, he changed his mind and ran for
reelection in 2016. This time, his running mate was former 4th district Councilor and city social
services head Dr. Honey Lacuna. Estrada won in a tight race over former Mayor Alfredo Lim by
around 2,000 votes, while Lacuna was elected vice mayor as well. Estrada best described his
accomplishments as Mayor of Manila as having been able to provide the basic needs of
Manileños “from womb to tomb.” He boasted of comprehensive public services from free
hospital and medical care services to all residents of Manila starting from mothers giving birth,
free books, uniforms, and health snacks for public school students, all the way to free burial and
cremation.

Then-mayor-elect Isko Moreno (second from left) paying a courtesy visit to then
outgoing mayor Joseph Estrada (second from right) weeks after defeating the latter in the 2019
local elections

Estrada has also shown support for the controversial Manila Bay reclamation, with the
fourth reclamation project approved on June 7, 2017. Estrada, however, was widely criticized for
a publicity stunt at a clean-up drive in Manila Bay on July 21, 2017. On September 28, 2018,
Estrada settled the city's ₱200 million tax liabilities, left unpaid by former mayors Lito
Atienza and Alfredo Lim, to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

After serving two consecutive terms as mayor, Estrada intended to run for a third term
in 2019, competing against former Manila vice mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso and former
Manila mayor Alfredo Lim; Estrada chose former 5th District Representative Amado Bagatsing
as his running mate for vice mayor. Estrada lost to Domagoso, who beat him by more than
100,000 votes in a landslide victory. Estrada conceded defeat on the evening of May 13 and
stepped down on June 30.

Honors

o : Order of the Knights of Rizal – Knight Grand Cross of Rizal.

o 1971 Outstanding Mayor and foremost Nationalist by the Inter-Provincial Information
Service
o 1972 One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration by the
Philippine Jaycees
o 2007 Most Outstanding Citizen of San Juan
o 2014 GMMSF Box-Office Entertainment Awards Government Service Award
REFERENCES:

Joseph Estrada. (2001). Wikipedia. Retrieved January 30, 2024, from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Estrada.

"Key facts on Philippines' former leader Estrada". Reuters. September 12, 2007.
Retrieved Retrieved January 30, 2024.

"Erap wins Manila mayoralty race – Election 2013, Special Reports". The Philippine
Star. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2024.

"Philippine Military Takes Moro Headquarters". People's Daily. July 10, 2000. Archived
from the original on August 13, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2024.

Singcol, Anna Katrina T. (June 3, 2009). "PROFILE: Joseph Marcelo "ERAP" Ejercito
Estrada". ABS-CBN News. Retrieved January 30, 2024.

Martinez-Belen, Crispina (March 27, 2009). "Mowelfund marks 35th year". Manila
Bulletin. Archived from the original on April 19, 2009. Retrieved Retrieved January 30,
2024.

"Former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada proud to be a founder of MMFF". Philippine

Entertainment Portal (in English and Filipino). January 5, 2010. Archived from the
original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved January 30, 2024.

Maragay, Fel V. (March 2, 1992). "Stars call 'cut' to join Erap". Manila Standard.
Kamahalan Publishing Corp. p. 2. Retrieved Retrieved January 30, 2024.
 JOSEPH EJERCITO
ESTRADA “ERAP”
TIMELINE

A Research Paper

RESEARCH BY:

MICKAELA JANE C. BOHOL

SUBMITTED TO:

FRANS GARCIA