Even Estrada’s mom worried about him

She is perhaps the woman he loves most and she remains protective of him. Mary Marcelo Ejercito, the 93-year-old mother of beleaguered President Estrada, is aware of the troubles now plaguing her son and has begged him to "reform his ways," Time magazine reported in its Nov. 27 issue.

In an article entitled "Eye of the Storm," the international news magazine said that the "elderly but lucent" Mary Ejercito has gotten wind of the scandal threatening to bring down her son’s presidency and has advised him to shape up.

"Mrs. Ejercito was shielded from the news of the scandal by her in-house nurse, who kept the television under lock and key. Somehow, Mrs. Ejercito got wind of the impeachment, and met with the President, telling him, ‘It’s more than high time you change. The people are angry now’," Time reported in a two-page article written by Anthony Spaeth, with reports from Nelly Sindayen.

According to the magazine, reports of Mrs. Ejercito’s advice to her 63-year-old son have "led to a new tale in Manila’s gossip circles about Mrs. Ejercito pleading with Cardinal Sin to be gentle with her son."

"‘Please have mercy on him,’ she says. ‘Not only hasn’t he finished school, but he may now not finish his term’."

The President is especially close to his mother. When he was not yet President and had the time to indulge in a favorite pastime – cooking – he would cook his famous bacalao and make sure he sent a generous portion to his mother’s house.

After he took his oath at the Barasoain Church in Bulacan in June 1998, a triumphant Mr. Estrada turned first to the arms of his beloved mother and kissed her.

It is said that Mary Ejercito, a strict disciplinarian, was so against her son Joseph’s entering the movies more than four decades ago that she forbade him to use the family name "Ejercito."

Thus, Joseph, whose real name is Jose, adopted the screen name "Joseph Estrada."

According to other reports, it was because of the intercession of the Ejercito matriarch, that Joseph Estrada reconciled with his legal wife Luisa when he decided to seek national office in 1987.

Up to now, he remains devoted to his mother.