Manila Mayorial Candidates for the 2013 Elections

By: Kat Macasaet

Joseph Estrada

Former president Joseph Estrada who was ousted in 2001 has filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor of Manila last October 2. Although he was popularly known for the roles he played on television and the big screen, he has had his share of public service.

His first political involvement was in 1967 when he ran for the post of mayoralty in the municipality (now a city) of San Juan, Manila but he lost to Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo. Erap filed an electoral protest and was proclaimed Mayor in 1969. He was re-elected the following election, serving the then municipality of San Juan for more than 16 years. Under his term as mayor, the first San Juan Municipal High School was built along with the Agora complex, a modern slaughterhouse, a sprawling Government Center with a post Office, a mini-park and the concreting of 98 percent of San Juan’s roads and alleys.

He has done a lot of infrastructure projects such as the improvement and renovation of school buildings. He constructed health centers, barangay halls and playgrounds in all the barangays and provided low areas with artesian wells.

He received many prestigious awards like the Outstanding Mayor and foremost Nationalist by the Inter-Provincial Information Service inn 1971 and Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration by the Philippine Jaycees in 1972.

On the 1986 EDSA Revolution, he was asked to step down from his post.

The following year, he ran the senatorial race under the banner of Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD) party and he won a seat. He was also the appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Works and the Vice-Chairman of the Committees on Health, Natural Resources and Ecology and Urban Planning.

As a senator, he was credited for the bills on irrigation project and the protection and propagation of carabaos inn rural areas. But the most important legislation he signed was the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, which led to the historic withdrawal of American servicemen from the Clark Air Base in Pampanga and the Subic Naval Base in Zambales.

He was cited as one of the Three Outstanding Senators of the Year by the Free Press in 1989.

In 1992, he was elected as Vice-President of the Philippines and he was also the Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC) other than being the Presidential Adviser on Crime Prevention and Law.

As the head of PACC, he began efficient operations against kidnappers, crooked cops, crooked authorities and illegal recruiters.

In 1993, there was a growth in drug-abuse problems among the youth and he funded the Philippine Drug Abuse Resistance Education (PhilDARE) Program.

However, in January 1995, Executive Order No. 221 was issued and PACC lost its operational control over it task force. Erap left his post as PACC chairman on June 4, 1997.

During the 1998 Presidential elections, he run for the office and won but it was cut short when he was impeached in 2001. He was prisoned until pardoned in 2007.

After 12 long years, Erap has decided to run again for a public office, and this time, it is for the Mayoralty of Manila.

Alfredo Lim

Incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has filed his certificate of candidacy a day earlier than his rival, Joseph Estrada. Lim was a 1950’s cop well-known for his good name and the principles that he lived by.

One of the most interesting case Lim handled was when James Barbers tried to dissuade Lim from filing against Robert Barbers for illegal possesion of firearms. Lim went through with the case as he was a does not tolerate any wrong-doing. In 1987, when a series of coup d’etat was staged by the military, Lim helped Cory Aquino by leading the Manila Policemen in retaking the government installations from military rebels in the 1987 coup attempt.

In 1992, he retired from the police force as Major General, but he was appointed as the new director of the National Bureau of Investigation. As the NBI director, he lobbied for the increase of funding and pay for the agents.

As a police he received many honors such as the Medal Of Valor by Brig. Gen. Ricardo Papa, Chief of Police; one of The Ten Outstanding Policeman of the Philippines (1967-1971); Outstanding Achievement Medal by order of then Minister of National Defense Lt. Fidel V. Ramos, DG, INP, for professional competence as PNPA Superintendent (January 4, 1985); Outstanding Manileno For Public Service-Law Enforcement in 1986; Hall Of Fame Award given by the Philippine Jaycees for being the First Policeman to receive seven TOPP Awards (July 12, 1990); TOPP (Ten Outstanding Police of the Philippines) and the Most Outstanding Law Enforcer awarded by the Consumers Union of the Philippines, Manila (November 21, 1990)

As he held the position of NBI director, Lim ran for the office of the Manila Mayor and won. He had done many distinguished projects such as the establishment of Universidad de Manila which was the first learning institution which provides free college education after that, 68 public elementary and highschool buildings were erected. Along with the infrastructure was the release of 300, 000 worth of Philippine peso that was used as financial assistance to 250 elementary and high school students of the city. Pupils from at least 485 daycare centers were provided free bags and shirts. They also received provision of supplemental feeding. He ran again for the same position in the 1995 Manila Mayoral bid and won.

He won many awards such as the Dr. Jose P. Rizal Immortal Award; the President Osmena Most Outstanding Public Servant Award (1992) and the Gintong Ama Award for Government and Public Service (June 19, 1994).

In 1998, he ran as the nominee for Presidency of the Liberal Party but lost to Joseph Estrada. He then served the public as secretary of the Local and Interior Government until 2000.

It was in 2004 when he ran for a public office again. This time he joined the senatorial race and won a seat.

Lim ran again for the Manila Mayoralty bid in 2007 and won. He was re-elected the next election, making it his fourth term as the Mayor of Manila. As a mayor, he has done many projects such as the construction of three new hospitals and at least nine health centers. There were also sports complexes such as Delpan Sports Complex, Dapitan Sports Complex, San Andres Sports Complex, Jacinto Ciria Cruz Sports Complex, Bagong Buhay Sports Complex and  the renovation of  Canonigo Covered Court for better services. It was also Lim who cleared out the so-called “red-light” district along Roxas boulevard.