Estrada satisfied with poll results

Jailed former President Joseph Estrada is satisfied with the partial results of the May 14 elections despite reports about massive cheating at the polls, his lawyer said yesterday.

Former Sen. Rene Saguisag, who visited the ousted president at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on Wednesday night, said Estrada felt vindicated by the strong showing of his wife Luisa at the polls.

"He seems to be healthy. We even see him jogging around the hospital," Saguisag said.

He said Estrada was watching an NBA game between the Charlotte Hornets and the Milwaukee Bucks when he arrived at the tightly guarded hospital.

"With the strong showing of Mrs. Estrada and considering that her opponents were really strong, the Estradas were partly happy at what is happening right now. They think it is really a vindication of what happened in the Lower House, the Senate, Ombudsman and the Supreme Court," Saguisag said.

He said Estrada was still hopeful that majority of the senatorial candidates of the opposition Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino would win, specifically re-electionists Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Juan Ponce Enrile who were teetering at the end of the so-called "Magic 13." – Jose Rodel Clapano