Caricature of President Joseph Estrada

13th President of the Republic of the Philippines

June 30, 1998 - January 20, 2001

Joseph Ejercito was born on April 19, 1937 in Tondo, Manila to Emilio Ejercito, Sr., a former Chief Sanitary Engineer of Manila, and Maria Marcelo. He use the name Joseph Estrada after his parents forbade him from using their family name upon entering the film industry. Joseph has two brothers, Antonio Ejercito and Emilio Ejercito, Jr. ( a.k.a. George Estregan ). He was a famous celebrity known as "Erap", which comes from the reverse spelling of a Filipino word pare or buddy. Joseph was married to psychiatrist and former senator Luisa "Loi" Ejercito-Estrada adn has three children: Jinggoy, who was also a senator, Jacqueline and Jude. He has a child out of wedlock from socialite Guia Gomez, JV Ejercito who was the mayor of San Juan City.

Joseph Estrada starred in more than a hundred movies and produced some of them. He was known by the masses as a hero of the poor in most of his movies. He first enter politics in 1968, where he ran for mayor of the municipality of San Juan. He lost to Dr. Braulio Sto. Domingo but filed an electoral protest against Sto. Domingo and was favored by the court. The following year, Estrada was proclaimed mayor of San Juan. 

When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, she removed from office all the local government officials suspected of malfeasance and anomalies, Estrada was included. The following year, he ran and won a seat for senate. In the 1992 presidential election, He initially intended to run as president, but later decided to join Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. as vice president. Cojuangco lost to Fidel Ramos, but Estrada won the vice presidency.

After his term as vice president, Estrada ran for president in the 1998 elections and won by a landslide. He was inaugurated at the Barasoain Church in the historical town of Malolos, Bulacan. His presidency was benefited by the majority of the poor people which was his priority. However, Estrada's administration was marred by a plunder and corruption charges by his close friend Ilocos Sur Governor Chavit Singson. Singson's allegation caused uproar across the nation that led in filing of an impeachment case against Estrada in the House of Representatives. The impeachment suit was brought to the Senate with Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as presiding officer.The impeachment trial took an unexpected turn on January 16, 2001, when the court, whose majority were allies of Estrada, voted not to open a controversial envelope that was rumored to contain incriminating evidence against the president. The prosecution panel and the officials from the opposition walked out of the court in protest of the vote. The events fueled a three-day street protest at the historic EDSA Shrine, the same site where the 1986 revolution that overthrew Marcos. On January 20, 2001, following the Supreme Court's declaration of vacancy of the presidential seat the Chief Justice swore in the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as the President of the Philippines.

Estrada return to his San Juan residence, but maintained that he never resigned and called the Arroyo's government as illegitimate. Three months after his removal from presidency, he was arrested at his home under plunder charges. Estrada was initially detained at the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center in Manila and then transferred to a military facility in Tanay, Rizal. He was later transferred ta a vacation home under house arrest.

On September 12, 2007, the Sandiganbayan Special Division found Estrada "guilty beyond reasonable doubt" of plunder charges and sentenced him to serve up to 40 years in prison. On October 25, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued a statement through Press secretary Ignacio Bunye granting pardon to former president Joseph Estrada.

Joseph Estrada tried to make a comeback at the Malacanang Palace when he ran again for president in the 2010 national election with Makati mayor Jejomar Binay as his vice-presidential running mate. Although he proved that he still loved by most Filipino's, he was lost to Senator Benigno Aquino III.