“Good morning to all of you. Erap is now poor, there’s a hole in my pants. Did you see? What did you see?” former President Joseph Estrada told the crowd before delivering his speech at Kananga Central Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.

KANANGA, Leyte – An admission from former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada shortly before delivering his speech here surprised supporters in his campaign rally Tuesday.

But it was the kind of confession that made Estrada supporters laugh when the deposed leader told the crowd that his pants got ripped in the crotch area before delivering his speech at Kananga Central Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.

“Maayong buntag sa inyong lahat! Pobre na si Erap, butas ang pantalon. Nakita mo? Ano nakita mo?” Estrada asked his audience. (“Good morning to all of you. Erap is now poor, there’s a hole in my pants. Did you see? What did you see?”)

“Puti!!! (White),” his supporters immediately answered in chorus, chuckling.

His son re-electionist Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada himself was laughing when he told reporters that his father had to use his signature orange jacket around his waist to cover the obvious tear throughout his entire speech.

Saying this has been the third time the accident happened to his father, the Senate President Pro Tempore added that Estrada had to take a chopper from Kananga all the way back to Tacloban to change in his hotel.

“Buti pa nga meron pang underwear,” he said in jest. (“Good, I have an underwear.”)

The minor incident forced Estrada to skip his lunch, delaying a forum with the local media and motorcade from Naval in Kananga to Calubian town to 3 p.m. in hope of getting the support of about 48,000 registered voters in both municipalities.

In an interview, Estrada explained that he must have torn his own pants when he got off his private chopper upon landing in Villaba Vocational High School Tuesday morning.

“Someone told me. It happens,” he said, making fun of himself as he realized that his pants were torn when he paid courtesy call to Villaba Mayor Claudio Larrazabal and all throughout his motorcade to Kanangga.

“It’s okay… so that they can see my butt,” Estrada laughed.

Former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, campaign manager of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), said Estrada prioritized visiting Leyte province Tuesday and going back to Cebu today after campaigning in Northern Samar last Monday to work on his “strongest region.”