Action movie star and opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. yesterday promised a fair trial for his close friend, disgraced ex-president Joseph Estrada, indicating he would not attempt to intervene if elected.
"The closest thing that I would give Erap is a fair trial," he said in an interview with DZRH radio, calling Estrada, also a former actor, by his nickname.
Estrada, who is detained in a military camp outside Manila, was forced to step down amid massive anti-corruption protests in January, 2001. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, his vice president, took over as president to complete his term.
Critics of the former president have expressed fears that Poe, who is also known as FPJ and Da King of Philippine movies, would free Estrada if elected.
Poe, considered the main challenger to Arroyo in the May 10 elections, said Estrada's trial would continue. He did not elaborate.
He said his ability to set up a successful movie production company shows he can lead the nation of 82 million.
"You know, I put up FPJ productions not by mere words," he said. "I did it through perspiration and perseverance."
Poe, who has never held public office and is not a member of any political party, was chosen as standard bearer of a three-party opposition coalition.
His candidacy has unsettled some business people and many from the middle class who fear the 64-year-old high school dropout would be unable to deal with the country's major problems, including a communist insurgency, a Muslim separatist rebellion, unemployment and a ballooning budget deficit.
Being a dropout won't be a hindrance, Poe said.
"I will work really hard and not make promises," he said. "The others just make a lot of promises they never keep."
He said he would "apply the rule of law, good governance and political will" in addressing the country's problems.
"Good governance and political will are all it takes to solve our problems," he said, adding his priority will be improving agricultural production and education, restoring law and order and fighting corruption.
Poe's citizenship is being challenged in the Supreme Court, but he told supporters the truth that he is a Filipino will prevail.
"I want to tell everyone that I am really a Filipino," he said. "I was born here and I will be buried here, so don't worry, the truth will come out."
In his movies, many of which he also produced and directed, Poe often portrayed the role of underdogs who triumph against evil and injustice in the end, endearing him to the masses.
Airlines in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia and Singapore yesterday canceled flights to and from the Indonesian island of Bali, after a nearby volcano catapulted an ash tower into the sky. Australia’s Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin Australia all grounded flights after Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki on Flores island spewed a 9km tower a day earlier. Malaysia Airlines, AirAsia, India’s IndiGo and Singapore’s Scoot also listed flights as canceled. “Volcanic ash poses a significant threat to safe operations of the aircraft in the vicinity of volcanic clouds,” AirAsia said as it announced several cancelations. Multiple eruptions from the 1,703m twin-peaked volcano in
A plane bringing Israeli soccer supporters home from Amsterdam landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport on Friday after a night of violence that Israeli and Dutch officials condemned as “anti-Semitic.” Dutch police said 62 arrests were made in connection with the violence, which erupted after a UEFA Europa League soccer tie between Amsterdam club Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Israeli flag carrier El Al said it was sending six planes to the Netherlands to bring the fans home, after the first flight carrying evacuees landed on Friday afternoon, the Israeli Airports Authority said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered
Former US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi said if US President Joe Biden had ended his re-election bid sooner, the Democratic Party could have held a competitive nominating process to choose his replacement. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said in an interview on Thursday published by the New York Times the next day. “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary,” she said. Pelosi said she thought the Democratic candidate, US Vice President Kamala Harris, “would have done
Farmer Liu Bingyong used to make a tidy profit selling milk but is now leaking cash — hit by a dairy sector crisis that embodies several of China’s economic woes. Milk is not a traditional mainstay of Chinese diets, but the Chinese government has long pushed people to drink more, citing its health benefits. The country has expanded its dairy production capacity and imported vast numbers of cattle in recent years as Beijing pursues food self-sufficiency. However, chronically low consumption has left the market sloshing with unwanted milk — driving down prices and pushing farmers to the brink — while
RSS