13TH President Of The Philippines

Filipino film actor and director Joseph Estrada was elected vice president of the Philippines in 1992 and president in 1998. A corruption scandal forced him from office in January 2001.

In 1998 Estrada won the Philippine presidential elections. In October 2000 he became mired in a corruption scandal, however, and the House of Representatives impeached him in November.

The impeachment trial in the Senate was suspended in mid-January 2001 after the prosecution team resigned to protest the suppression of evidence. Thousands of Filipinos staged massive demonstrations in the streets of Manila to demand Estrada’s resignation.

 Faced with loss of public support, defections of important cabinet members, and transfer of key military support to the political opposition, Estrada was forced from power on January 20. That day, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant, effectively ousting Estrada from office, and Vice President Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as president.

 In 2007 a Philippine anticorruption court convicted Estrada of illegally acquiring wealth while in office.

The court sentenced him to a maximum of 40 years in prison (essentially a life sentence), but President Macapagal-Arroyo subsequently issued a pardon that released him.