Erap DVD widely ‘googled,’ says producer

Ousted President Joseph Estrada is getting raves on the Internet.

Despite the X-rating given by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), the film biography of Estrada, "Ang Mabuhay para sa Masa" ranked No. 9 on the Google search engine, and was on the brink of crashing due to number of hits it had received since Sunday, said Rey David of Publikasia, the film’s producer.

David said the entry of the Estrada film into the "Magic 10" is considered phenomenal as it was only uploaded last week, while others on the list had been there for several years.

Following the MTRCB’s initial ruling last week Estrada’s website registered incessant hits from both local and foreign Internet surfers, particularly in the US, he added.

Described by Estrada’s camp as a "newsreel," the film is reportedly making waves on the Internet after the producer posted it on Estrada’s websites (HYPERLINK "http://www.erap.ph" www.erap.ph).

The Estrada film biography carried the heading "People’s President," which registered 14,700,000 hits per 28 seconds.

First on the list was the publication "Magsaysay."

US President George W. Bush was ranked seventh in the list.

Former immigration commissioner Rufus Rodriguez, a lawyer for Estrada, said the MTRCB wanted to delete the film’s second episode, "Power Grab" before it can be allowed public screening.

"President Estrada rejected the proposal, it’s his life story so how can you delete it?" he asked reporters after a closed-door meeting with MTRCB board members.

Rodriguez said the MTRCB denied their appeal after Estrada refused to have the questioned episode removed from his film biography.

Estrada will seek a court order to allow the public viewing of the film because "it’s a newsreel" and exempted from the coverage of the MTRCB’s review and classification power, he added.

Voting 4-1, an MTRCB panel headed by Edmund Sicam stood pat on its earlier decision that the 57-minute Estrada film is not fit for public showing.