Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada is convicted of plunder.
Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (Tagalog: [ɛhɛɹˈsɪtɔ ɛsˈtɾada], born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998, and the 21st mayor of the City of Manila, the country's capital, from 2013 to 2019. In 2001, he became the first chief executive in Asia to be formally impeached and resigned from power. Estrada gained popularity as a film actor, playing the lead role in over a hundred films in an acting career spanning some three decades. He also worked as a model, beginning as a fashion and ramp model at the age of 13. He used his popularity as an actor to make gains in politics, serving as mayor of San Juan from 1969 to 1986, as senator from 1987 to 1992, then as vice president under President Fidel V. Ramos from 1992 to 1998.
Estrada was elected president in 1998 with a wide margin of votes separating him from the other challengers, and was sworn into the presidency on June 30, 1998. In 2000 he declared an "all-out-war" against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and captured its headquarters and other camps. Allegations of corruption spawned an impeachment trial in the Senate, and in 2001 Estrada was ousted by "People Power 2" after the prosecution walked out of the impeachment court when the senator-judges voted not to open an envelope that allegedly contained incriminating evidence against him.
In 2007, Estrada was sentenced by a special division of the Sandiganbayan to reclusión perpetua under a charge of "plunder" for the embezzlement of $80 million from the government, but was later granted pardon by president and his former deputy, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He ran for president again in the 2010 presidential election, but was defeated by Senator Benigno Aquino III by a wide margin. He later served as mayor of Manila for two terms, from 2013 to 2019.