ENQUIRY By Demaree J. B. Raval 02/07/2010 The Daily Tribune That is the question posed by my friend Fel Maragay in his article on former President Joseph Estrada’s chances as a consequence of the decision of the second division of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) throwing out the disqualification cases against Estrada. The question wrongly assumes that the survey results showing Estrada to be lagging behind in the presidential race are true and correct. Corollary to that wrong assumption, too much reliance is made on the unsubstantiated claim of Estrada’s detractors that he will continue to lose supporters, and not even gain any, upon the unfounded fear that their votes might just be wasted if he would be disqualified by the Comelec, or by the Supreme Court eventually. Fel did cite incontrovertible reasons supporting an affirmative answer to his question, and I cannot but agree with him. Estrada, relegated by the mercenary surveys to a poor third place, has always been there slugg...

I said this earlier, in my blogs last year, that if Erap runs, he might win. Mr. Tony Gatmaitan, an astute political analyst, concurs. Let us see where Villar's billions and Noynoy's minions will be picked up after the Erap juggernaut is over. Ain't I glad, finally, that I am not running in this election. I am writing a novel about it, though. Satirical, but I hope also sweet. And the politicians running in 2010 will have a field day gleaning who they are among the characters in my novel. The Comelec included. Ha! The best revenge, said Oscar Wilde, is to write well. *** An Estrada surge on eve of campaign PIPELINE Antonio Gatmaitan Daily Tribune 12/30/2009 At about the time when things were winding down, Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations, the two respected and widely accepted pollsters published assessments of the 2010 presidential elections, two days apart, a fortnight ago. Electoral track record Absent any satisfactory measure of performance, every candidate would h...

By Lito Banayo Ang Pahayagang Malaya 31 August 2009 On January 8 this year, I began a series on ten presidential wannabe’s, beginning with Joseph Ejercito Estrada, which I entitled “The Hamlet Act”. It has been almost 8 months since that article was printed on this space. Let me reprint an abbreviated version of the same: Quote the Bard of Avon, “To be or not to be, that is the question” in his well-read Hamlet. For Joseph Ejercito Estrada, dispossessed 13th president of the Republic, that translates into: “To run or not to run, that is the question”. The ostensible reason behind a run is the threat that if the opposition does not unite, he himself will run. Anybody with two cents worth of political experience knows that the opposition is not going to unite behind one candidate in 2010, and Erap’s premise is ipso facto and ab initio defunct. And the man knows it, but, “just like in the movies”, he has to dissemble. He has increasingly made his decision to run known to almost every pers...

The Manila Times www.manilatimes.net Apparently inspired by the “warm” public reception he has been getting wherever he went, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada has stepped up his political tour around the country to feel the people’s pulse on his plan to run for president in the 2010 election. “No one can dispute the fact that I still have the support of my people,” Erap recently said, citing the latest Pulse Asia survey placing him in the top three among presidential contenders. Vice President Noli de Castro was No. 1 in the poll, with Erap placing second with former Senate President Manny Villar. The other presidential aspirants are Senators Chiz Escudero, Loren Legarda, Mar Roxas, Panfilo Lacson and Richard Gordon, Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Chairman Bayani Fernando of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. Erap has said time and again that he would run for president if the opposition cannot field just one candidate. He sees n...