Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada said Thursday that he would support Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III should the latter win the presidency by majority but at the same time asked the only son of the late President Corazon Aquino and Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. to respect the “voice of the people” if he wins a second mandate to rule the country.

“In a few short days – assuming there will be no more horrendous glitches, courtesy of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its partner, Smartmatic – the Filipino people will have a new President who will lead them in the next six years.”

“If Sen. Aquino will be so lucky as to get elected by the majority of the people, he can count on my support,” Estrada said in his speech during a press conference at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan amid mounting calls for manual counting of votes because of the glitches in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines which will be used by the Comelec for the country’s first ever automated elections on Monday, May 10.

He quickly added though: “On the other side of the coin, when I win, I wish to assure the people that such victory was achieved without resorting to cheating.”

“I can only hope that we will respect the voice of the people,” Estrada said.

Estrada said he was constrained to call the press conference and issue the warning in the wake of the “suspicious, extensive glitches” in some of the voting machines to properly read votes.

These events, he said, “fanned the flames of speculation that there could be failure of elections, and that what the people had in fact been eagerly anticipating could turn out be an exercise in futility.”

Estrada said he would not allow a failure of elections scenario “to snatch away his imminent victory” and as he vowed to lead protests against attempts to derail the elections.

Despite the endorsement of the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ) of the candidacy of his rival Aquino, Estrada remained optimistic of his chances of returning to Malacañang.

Inspired by Comelec’s dismissal with finality of disqualifications case against him, Estrada said he was basing his optimism on the strength of recent voter preferences surveys, which showed him supposedly in a close fight with survey leader Aquino.

“I am determined, now more than ever, that such scenario will not take place. And I must confess to a little selfish motive for such determination,” said the former President who is seeking
a fresh mandate as chief executive following his ouster in 2001 amid allegations of corruption.

He cited PMP’s internal survey which showed him “way ahead of Nacionalista Party standard bearer Sen. Manny Villar, and running almost neck-and-neck with Aquino.

“Like the previous survey, the latest exercise had 2,400 respondents nationwide. It has margin of error plus or minus two percent. And more importantly, we sought to ensure the respondents in both surveys from the “D,” and “E” and lower “C” economic class were adequately surveyed. In other words, the greater majority of our impoverished countrymen were properly represented,” Estrada said.

The survey showed Aquino with 34 percent – losing a percentage point from the poll of April 23-25); Estrada with 29 percent – up by four points; and Villar at 15 percent – down two points.

“While I acknowledge Sen. Aquino’s formidable lead in the Visayas – 44 percent versus 14 percent – it must be noted that Luzon accounts for roughly 50 percent of the vote, Mindanao 30 percent and the Visayas, only 20 percent,” Estrada said.

He also cited a poll conducted by survey arm of the University of Mindanao and the Mindanao Times, showing him leading Aquino by 10 points – 45 percent to 35 percent.

“All this considered, I am happy to note that we are well on our way to achieving the same percentage of votes we received in 1998 which is 38.7 percent,” he said.

Estrada also cited an “LP internal survey” which supposedly showed that Aquino is just slightly ahead of him by a “meager 5.8 percentage points. He dismissed Aquino’s lead as “not too formidable.”

“With this figures in mind, please allow me to reiterate my unsolicited advice to Sen. Aquino: Please do not be so presumptuous as to claim victory in the upcoming elections. And please do not be so impetuous as to call for another ‘people power’ revolt when you lose on May 10,” Estrada said.

Present during the press conference to support Estrada were PMP senatoriables – Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Jinggoy Estrada; JV Bautista; Joey De Venecia; Francisco “Kit” Tatad; former solon Apolinario Lozada; and Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza.

Local PMP bets – Estrada’s son San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito who is running for the congressional post in San Juan; mayoral bet for Quezon City, 2nd District Rep. Annie Rosa Susano; mayoral bet in Pasay City, Connie Dy; mayoral bet for Makati City, Jun-jun Binay, and gubernatorial bet for Ilocos Sur, Efren “Rambo” Rafanan – came to report on Estrada’s strength in their respective areas.