Erap, Villar, Chiz formalize bids

MANILA -- A former president, a former lawmaker and an incumbent senator were among the key personalities who visited the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday to file their certificates of candidacy (COC).

Compared to the festive atmosphere brought by the supporters of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) candidates who filed their COCs Monday, Senator Francis "Chiz" Escudero filed his candidacy papers alone.

Escudero will run as a common candidate of UNA and the Liberal Party-led slate.
 
Wearing a leather jacket, the re-electionist senator was asked by reporters about Heart Evangelista’s role in his campaign for the 2013 midterm elections.
 
Senator Escudero and the GMA7 actress are “exclusively dating”.
 
“I think she’s resting right now,” he said, adding the actress has been busy with tapings.

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. had earlier expressed disgust over the circus-like atmosphere outside the Palacio de Gobernador, the poll body’s main office in Intramuros, Manila, early Monday morning.
 
Nationwide, however, Brillantes said: “Tahimik na tahimik. Wala naman kaming nadidinig kahit isolated incidents”.
 
Including the UNA candidates, and Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel and Loren Legarda, a total of 20 candidates filed COCs Monday.
 
On Tuesday morning, only three candidates filed COCs at the Comelec.
 
After Escudero, a 43-year-old composer, Valeriano Nocon III, also filed his COC for senator.

 
Nocon said he has already composed his campaign jingle, which is available at his Facebook page.
 
“Lahat ng evil tatapusin ko…Papatayin ko lahat ng spirit na masama,” he told reporters.
 
Former Las Piñas City Representative Cynthia Villar, wife of incumbent Senator Manny Villar, was the 23rd COC filer.

Villar, a member of the Nacionalista Party, is running under the LP ticket.

Ex-congresswoman Cynthia Villar says she is in favor of sin tax, FOI bills. (Virgil Lopez)

The former congresswoman vowed to support the freedom of information (FOI) and sin tax bill.
 
Aside from Senator Villar and son, incumbent Las Pinas Representative Mark Villar, television host Willie Revillame also accompanied Mrs. Villar to the Comelec office.
 
Revillame refused to be interviewed by the media.

In the local scene, former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, clad in his trademark orange color, and his allied trooped to the Comelec Arroceros office on Tuesday where he formalized his bid for the mayoral position of Manila.

The 75-year-old Estrada will now be competing against incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, who already formalized his bid Monday.

Arriving in his famous “Jeep ni Erap," the former chief executive was joined by his running mate, re-electionist Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso (alias Isko Moreno), 35 councilor aspirants, and three congressional candidates who also filed their COCs.

Estrada and his allies are running under UNA, which fielded three candidates for the six congressional districts of Manila: Ernesto Dionisio Sr., (1st district), incumbent Councilor Edward M. Tan (2nd district), and former house representative Bienvenido M. Abante (6th district).

Before the COC filing, a motorcade was held for Estrada, whose supporters also flocked several areas in the city to welcome him.

Estrada, who vowed to go after criminals and rogue cops in Manila, will once again compete against Lim, whom he defeated in the 1998 presidential elections after garnering 11 million votes.

Lim was once in Estrada's Cabinet as Interior and Local Government secretary. He quit in 2000 at the height of Edsa People Power in 2001.

The former president is once again seeking to extend his record in government service after joining the presidential race in 2010 with then Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as his running mate. The former Chief Executive lost in his bid but emerged second among the presidential candidates with about 9.5 million votes earned.

Estrada first entered politics in 1967 when he was elected mayor of the Municipality (now City) of San Juan. He later became a senator and the country's vice president.

As an actor, Estrada starred in more than 100 movies including the film based on the story of Nicasio "Asiong" Salonga, a notorious gang leader in Tondo, Manila. (Emmanuel Louis Bacani/Sunnex)