Manila mayoral election, 2013 
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Local elections was held in Manila on May 13, 2013 within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the six congressmen, and the councilors, six in each of the city's six legislative districts.
Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the capital of the Philippines. It is the most densely populated city proper in the world. It was the first chartered city by virtue of the Philippine Commission Act 183 on July 31, 1901 and gained autonomy with the passage of Republic Act No. 409 or the "Revised Charter of the City of Manila" on June 18, 1949. Manila, alongside Mexico and Madrid are considered the world's original set of Global Cities due to Manila's commercial networks being the first to traverse the Pacific Ocean, thus connecting Spanish Asia with the Spanish Americas, marking the first time in world history when an uninterrupted chain of trade routes circled the planet. Manila has been damaged by and rebuilt from wars more times than the famed city of Troy and it is also the second most natural disaster afflicted capital city in the world next to Tokyo yet it is simultaneously among the most populous and most wealthy cities in Southeast Asia.
Mayor Alfredo Lim is running for the mayorship for the third consecutive time; if he wins, he will be prohibited to run in 2016 due to term limits. Lim's opponent is former senator, vice president, deposed president then convicted plunderer and defeated 2010 presidential candidate, Joseph Estrada, who was a longtime San Juan mayor; in order to run for the mayorship, Estrada had to transfer his residence from San Juan to Manila. The two formerly contested the presidency in 1998, with Estrada emerging victorious.
Alfredo "Fred" Siojo Lim is a Chinese Filipino politician who served as Mayor of the City of Manila from 1992–98, and 2007–13, and senator of the Philippines from 2004-07.
A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potential for monopoly, where a leader effectively becomes "president for life". This is intended to protect a democracy from becoming a de facto dictatorship. Sometimes, there is an absolute or lifetime limit on the number of terms an officeholder may serve; sometimes, the restrictions are merely on the number of consecutive terms he or she may serve.
The Philippine presidential and vice presidential elections of 2010 were held on Monday, May 10, 2010. The ruling President of the Philippines, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was barred from seeking re-election by the 1987 Constitution, thus necessitating an election to select the 15th President.
Estrada's running mate is Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, who has served since 2007; if he wins, he will also be term limited in 2016. Actor and Councilor Lou Veloso is Lim's running mate; Veloso was the councilor elected with the highest percentage of votes in 2010.
Francisco Moreno Domagoso is a Filipino politician and the former Vice Mayor of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines, and a former three-term councilor of the city's first congressional district. He was also an actor, using the screen name Isko Moreno, who started as a matinee idol and later became known for his mature roles in the "Titillating Films" genre that was prevalent in the country during the 1990s.
Luciano Mariaño "Lou" Veloso is a Filipino actor, comedian, theater actor, musical theater director, movie director and politician. He is known for his supporting roles in over 30 popular comedy films, which include Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang (1985), Pulis Patola (1993), Ang Cute ng ina mo! (2007), and Desperadas 2 (2008). As an actor, Veloso has also performed in movies such as "Kabayo Kids", released in 1990, in which he portrayed Loreiga, "Buddy en Sol "(1992), and "M & M: The Incredible Twins"(1989).
Mayoral and vice mayoral election
On May 4, 2012, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno joined the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino party, fueling speculations that he would be former President Joseph Estrada's running mate. [1] Estrada would confirm this on May 9, 2012 but, for one term only. [2] On May 7, 2012, Incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim announced he will run for re-election and said that Moreno was his original running mate. [3]
The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, formerly Partido ng Masang Pilipino is a populist political party in the Philippines. It is the political party of former Philippine President Joseph Estrada. In the 1998 presidential election, it aligned itself with other political parties to create Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino or LAMMP.
Joseph "Erap" M. Ejercito-Estrada is a Filipino politician and former actor who served as the 13th President of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001 and as the ninth Vice President of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. In 2001, he became the first president in Asia to be impeached from an executive role. He has been Mayor of the City of Manila, the country's capital, since 2013.
A year prior to the election, Estrada transferred his residence from San Juan to Santa Mesa, Manila; this was made official by the Manila City Hall. Estrada's Manila home was formerly the headquarters of President Ramon Magsaysay during the 1953 presidential election. [4]
San Juan, officially the City of San Juan,, or simply known as San Juan City, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 122,180 people. It is geographically located at its approximate center and is also the country's smallest city in terms of land area.
Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay Sr. was a Filipino politician who was the seventh President of the Philippines, serving from December 30, 1953 until his death in an aircraft disaster. An automobile mechanic, Magsaysay was appointed military governor of Zambales after his outstanding service as a guerilla leader during the Pacific War. He then served two terms as Liberal Party congressman for Zambales before being appointed as Secretary of National Defense by President Elpidio Quirino. He was elected president under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.
On September 18, 2012, Lim announced that he has picked 6th District Councilor Lou Veloso to be his running mate. Lim noted that Veloso is the councilor that emerged with the most number of votes in the last local elections. [5]
On October 1, 2012, during the first day of filing of certificate of candidacies, [6] Lim and Veloso, along with their ticket's 36 city council bets, filed their certificate of candidacies at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) field office in Arroceros, Manila. Lim is supported by all but one of the incumbent congressmen of Manila - Benjamin Asilo of the 1st District, Carlo Lopez of the 2nd District, Zenaida Angping of the 3rd District, Trisha Bonoan-David of the 4th District, and Sandy Ocampo of the 6th District. [7] 5th District Representative Amado Bagatsing originally supported him but endorsed Estrada instead. [8] Lim also said that his 2013 campaign will be his last as he intends to retire from politics in 2016. He had previously served as mayor from 1992 to 1998, Secretary of Interior and Local Government under Estrada from 2000 to 2001, lost the mayorship to Estrada ally Lito Atienza in 2001, elected Senator in 2004 under the Estrada-backed Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, and retook the mayorship from Atienza's son Ali in 2007, then successfully defending it against Atienza himself in 2010. [9]
A day later, Estrada and Moreno filed their certificate of candidacies. Estrada left his home at Santa Mesa with Moreno aboard his jeepney he made famous during the 1998 presidential election. Estrada drove the jeepney to the COMELEC office at Arroceros; the United Nationalist Alliance-backed Estrada ticket includes 29 of the incumbent 36 councilors. [10] The contest between Lim and Estrada has been billed by many as "Dirty Harry vs. Asiong Salonga", with Lim being previously referred to as "Dirty Harry", and Estrada having played Asiong Salonga in a movie. [4] [11]
Aside from Lim and Estrada, other candidates include Marino Magallanes, a fortune teller from Quiapo, mechanical engineer and perennial candidate Onofre Abad, lawyer Felix Cantal, Samuel Gabot, Rodolfo Lim and driver Fidel Cruz.
On January 7, 2013, the Sandiganbayan ruled to dismiss via technicality a petition disqualifying Estrada from running due to a condition from his pardon granted by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that said he would not seek elective office. [12] However, he faced other disqualification cases from the same issue at the Commission on Elections and at the Regional Trial Court. [13]
On January 16, the commission disqualified all of the mayoral candidates, save for Estrada and Lim, and declared them as "nuisance candidates." [14]
The two camps signed a covenant for peaceful elections at the Manila Police District headquarters on February 15, 2013. Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes and Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting chairman Henrietta de Villa witnessed the signing, which were also attended by the rest of the slates, including their running mates. [15] A day later, the police arrested Moreno and five other UNA candidates for the city council for alleged illegal gambling. Estrada later said he may file charges against the police who arrested his running mate. [16] The police arrested the group after they proceeded to hold a bingo game, which the police had said to be illegal, after promising they would hold a raffle instead. Moreno and the other candidates were freed after the Manila Prosecutor's Office ruled that there was not enough evidence to prolong their detention. Moreno maintained that the bingo game is not illegal after President Ferdinand Marcos classified it as a parlor game. [17] Brillantes later said that Moreno's group did not violate any election law when they held a bingo game as the campaign period for local elections has not yet started. [18]
The Manila Regional Trial Court dismissed another disqualification case against Estrada on March 4. Judge Marivic Umali heeded Estrada's lawyer Frank Chavez that the Commission on Elections and not the court had jurisdiction on the case. On April 1, the commission dismissed Estrada's last disqualification case. [19]
