Nearly four weeks after the May 10 presidential election, former president Joseph Estrada on Friday finally accepted defeat, saying he accepts the imminent victory of Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and is offering his services to the new administration in whatever capacity should Aquino request for it. Speaking in an interview with the ABS-CBN media network in London, United Kingdom where he is attending the graduation of his 20-year-old daughter Jerika, Estrada said he is calling on Filipinos to forget politics and rally behind Aquino after his scheduled proclamation by Congress on Tuesday. “If my services are needed especially in the effort to help uplift the lives of our poor countrymen, I'm more than willing to help in whatever capacity,” Estrada said partly in Filipino. In the latest tally by Congress, with only five certificates of canvass left to be counted, Aquino had 14,641,803 votes over Estrada's 9,125,823, a difference of more than 5.5 million votes. The total votes waiting to be tallied were estimated at just 1.4 million. Congress, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), earlier failed to beat its target of finishing the counting of votes for president and vice president by Thursday. The lawmakers will resume the canvassing of votes on Monday and are expected to proclaim the winners the following day. However, Estrada said that while he accepted the results of the election, it does not mean that he is already conceding defeat. “Why would I concede if the canvassing is not yet over?” the former president asked. Estrada also took pride that he got nearly 10 million votes, saying this was a clear vindication by the people, proving that he did not commit any crime, and that he should not have been imprisoned. Estrada declined to comment on the result of the canvassing in San Juan, his home city, where he lost to Aquino. Estrada was mayor of San Juan for nearly 30 years. Aquino got 22,225 votes compared to Estrada's 21,341 votes or a difference of 884 votes, based on the Congress tally. Estrada's running mate, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, even got more votes in the city--29,311 votes--compared to Estrada. Although the outcome of the presidential race is already settled, the contest for the vice presidency remained fluid. In the latest Congress tabulation, Binay had a 644,000-lead over Senator Mar Roxas, as of 6:56 p.m. Thursday. Roxas remained hopeful of winning the second highest post in the Philippines since many of the votes left uncounted are from his bailiwick provinces. Still left uncounted are the votes from Bacolod City numbering 205,208; Davao City, 580,236; Eastern Samar, over 100,000; and Lanao del Sur, over 500,000.
