Vice President Jejomar Binay (left) huddles with Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada (center) and United Nationalist Alliance spokesperson Toby Tiangco during a visit to the Manila City Hall on Wednesday. Binay and Estrada were mum on the agenda of the meeting. (MNS Photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Former President Joseph Estrada on Thursday said he will reveal by the end of March who he will endorse for president in the May elections.
In an ambush interview at the Manila Hotel, Estrada also said he will even consider the recent Supreme Court decision favoring Sen. Grace Poe when deciding who to endorse.
“I am not decided yet because it involves the future of the 100 million Filipinos. We really have to study who among them can serve most,” Estrada said.
Estrada welcomed the SC decision overturning the Commission on Elections’ disqualification of Poe, allowing the lawmaker to run in the presidential elections.
“Of course (I will consider the SC decision). That’s better. The people are given to choose. The more candidates, the better for the people,” he said.
Estrada said he does not even have a shortlist of candidates he is considering to endorse.
“It would take me maybe about the end of March,” he added.
Asked what qualification he is looking for in the candidate he would be endorsing, Estrada said: “Who among them can save… for the greater good of the greatest number of the Filipino which is the greater number? The masa.”
Estrada also assured the public that his personal relationships will not be a factor in his choice.
Estrada was a guest speaker at the Philippine Women Judges Association Convention 2016, an event also graced by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and PWJA president SC Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro. (MNS)