Iloilo City — Deposed former president Joseph Estrada ruled out withdrawing from the presidential race or sliding down to a lower position amid reports of snowballing support for the candidacy of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III in the 2010 presidential polls.
“I will not slide down in favor of anybody as long as there are more than one presidential candidate. Nobody can stop me,” Estrada told reporters here yesterday in a chance interview on the sidelines of his sorties to Guimaras Island and Iloilo.
Estrada, one of the front-runners in recent surveys among presidential candidates, downplayed reports of the growing popularity of Aquino after the senator announced that he was accepting calls for him to run for the country’s highest post.
“The election is still a long way to go. It’s still unpredictable,” Estrada said.
He said Vice President Noli de Castro once led the surveys.
“He (De Castro) was way ahead but where is he now?”
He said the strongest candidate would be known by February or March 2010 because voters might still change their mind on whom to vote for.
But Estrada welcomed Aquino’s entry in the presidential race, saying this would provide “more choices for the people.”
Aquino earlier said he was not giving up on holding unity talks with Estrada.
Estrada said he would be willing to talk with Aquino but not with the senator’s camp, referring to the Liberal Party, whose leaders participated in the movement that ousted him from power in 2001.
“Most of the people in his camp are the people who conspired to oust me as president. How can I be with them?” Estrada said.
Estrada was ousted after days of People Power-style street protests on EDSA in 2001 over corruption charges. He was convicted of plunder in 2007 but pardoned by President Macapagal-Arroyo.
But Estrada said he held Aquino in high regard, especially his late parents, former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino and slain opposition leader, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
He was mum on his running mate, saying he expected more developments in the political race.
“I still believe in miracles. Anybody could still slide down. Who would have expected that (Sen. Manuel) Roxas would slide down?” Estrada said referring to Roxas’ decision to give way to Aquino as standard bearer of LP.
Estrada visited the capital town of Jordan and Buenavista town in Guimaras yesterday morning and proceeded to towns of Oton, Sta. Barbara, Cabatuan and Maasin in Iloilo in the afternoon.
It was the second time in three weeks that Estrada visited Iloilo where Roxas and another presidential candidate, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar, were perceived to have wide support.
Estrada has visited 64 of the total 81 provinces in the country since his release from house arrest in October 2007.
