Former president Estrada remains high in ratings

Manila: Despite being in jail for five years on plunder charges, a nationwide survey has shown that former President Joseph Estrada remains an alternative to President Gloria Arroyo.

Estrada was placed second in a survey by pollster Pulse Asia conducted last month to see who is the "best person to lead the country now."

Results of the survey showed that 22 per cent of Filipinos still favour Estrada, compared to Arroyo who got 11 per cent.

The top choice to replace Arroyo was former television broadcaster Vice President Noli de Castro, who obtained a rating of 23 per cent.

The rest of the choices showed: Senator Panfilo Lacson with 18 per cent, former President Corazon Aquino with 16 per cent, actress Susan Roces with 14 per cent, former President Fidel Ramos with nine percent and evangelist Eddie Villanueva with six per cent.

Estrada's spokesman, former Maguindanao lawmaker Didagen Dilangalen, said the results were "not surprising" as the ousted president, despite his years in detention on charges of plunder, remains "highly trusted" by a majority of the Filipino people and has maintained his popularity.

Estrada was ousted from power in 2001 in a military backed popular uprising that put Arroyo into power.

She won her own six-year term in the fraud marred 2004 elections.

Despite his ouster, Estrada remains a hero among the country's poor for his films in which he often played poor men who overcame adversities.

Dilangalen said this survey "disprove with finality" Arroyo's claim that there is "no viable alternative" to her.