Erap to Noynoy: Go all out against corruption

On the 25th anniversary of the EDSA People Power revolution, former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada on Friday urged President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III to go all out against corruption. "I hope that the incumbent President, who believed in the spirit of the 1986 EDSA 1 People Power revolt, would fulfill his campaign promise of going all out against corruption not only in the military," Estrada told reporters. Estrada issued the message to Aquino after attending the unveiling of the historical site marker at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) where former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino delivered a speech during the 1986 People Power uprising. The late President Ferdinand Marcos was ousted after EDSA 1, which put in power Mrs. Aquino, the mother of the incumbent President. On the other hand, Estrada was ousted after EDSA 2 or the January 2001 EDSA People Power uprising, which placed former President Gloria Arroyo in power. Estrada appealed to the people to give the incumbent president time to prove himself. “Let’s give him enough time dahil sa dami ng problemang iniwan nung nakaraang administrasyon, you cannot expect a miracle, he’s only barely 8 months [in office]," he said. Icon of corruption? Estrada also expressed hope that Aquino will correct "all the nine years of the Gloria [Arroyo] administration who corrupted all agencies of the government." After six years in detention, Estrada was convicted of plunder in September 2007. A month later, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo pardoned him. [See story: Estrada and his final performance in Philippine politics] Estrada even called Arroyo, now a Pampanga congresswoman, as an “icon of corruption" while hailing former President Cory as an “icon of democracy." Responding to Estrada's statements, Arroyo's son, party-list Rep. Mikey Arroyo told GMA News in a text message, "The last time I checked, it's not GMA (Gloria Macapagal Arroyo) who is out of jail through a presidential pardon. "In any case, I believe that unity must be the focal point of the commemoration of EDSA 1," Mikey said. "I appeal to our elders to refrain from dishing out such derogatory statements. God bless us all during the 25th anniversary of EDSA 1," Mikey added. — LBG/VVP, GMA News