Joseph Marcelo Ejercito, was the 13th President of the Philippines, serving from 1998 until his ouster in the 2001 EDSA Revolution.

He was born on April 19, 1937 in Tondo, the poorest district of Manila.

He belonged to an upper middle class family, and was the eighth of ten children of Emilio Ejercito, a government engineer, and his wife Maria Marcelo.

He went to Mapúa Institute of Technology to continue schooling with an engineering course, but dropped out from studies altogether two years later.

In his twenties, he began a career as a film actor. He adopted the screen name "Joseph Estrada," as his father objected to his chosen career and his decision to quit schooling. He also acquired the nickname "Erap" (a play on the Tagalog word "pare", meaning buddy) from his good friend Fernando Poe, Jr.

As an actor, Joseph Estrada played the lead role in more than 100 movies, and was producer of over 70 films. He was the first FAMAS Hall of Fame awardee for Best Actor (1981) and also became a Hall of Fame award-winner as a producer (1983).

Estrada entered politics in 1967 when he ran for mayor of San Juan, a municipality of Metro Manila. As mayor of San Juan he turned it to one of Metro Manila's outstanding municipality (now a city).

When Corazon Aquino assumed the presidency in 1986, all officials of the local government suspected of malfeasance and anomalies were removed and replaced by appointed officers-in-charge. Estrada was then removed from his position as mayor.

The following year, he ran and won a seat in the Senate under the Grand Alliance for Democracy (GAD). He placed 16th place in the said elections (out of 24 winners).

In 1992, Joseph Estrada ran for vice-president as the running mate of Eduardo Cojuangco, Jr. under the Nationalist People's Coalition party.

Though the latter lost to former National Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos, Estrada won the vice-presidency garnering more votes than his closest opponent, Ramon Mitra, Jr.'s running mate, Marcelo Fernan.

As Vice-President, President Ramos appointed him as the chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC).
Estrada was inaugurated as the 13th President of the Republic of the Philippines on June 30, 1998 in the historical town of Malolos in Bulacan province in paying tribute to the cradle of the First Philippine Republic.

The Estrada presidency was soon dogged by charges of plunder and corruption. He was reported by his Chief of Staff Aprodicio Laquian to have allegedly spent long hours drinking with shady characters as well as "midnight drinking sessions" with some of his cabinet members during meetings.

In October 2000, an acknowledged gambling racketeer, Luis "Chavit" Singson, governor of the province of Ilocos Sur, alleged that he had personally given Estrada the sum of 400 million pesos as payoff from illegal gambling profits, as well as 180 million pesos from the government price subsidy for the tobacco farmers' marketing cooperative.

Singson's allegation caused an uproar across the nation, which culminated in Estrada's impeachment by the House of Representatives in November 13, 2000. The articles of impeachment were then transmitted to the Senate and an impeachment court was formed, with Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as presiding officer.

On the evening of January 16, 2001, the impeachment court, whose majority were political allies of Estrada, voted not to open an envelope that was said to contain incriminating evidence against the president.

The final vote was 11-10, in favor of keeping the envelope closed. The prosecution panel (of congressmen and lawyers) walked out of the Impeachment Court in protest of this vote.

That night, anti-Estrada protesters gathered in front of the EDSA Shrine at Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, not too far away from the site of the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos.

A political turmoil ensued and the clamor for Estrada's resignation became stronger than ever. In the following days, the number of protesters grew to the hundreds of thousands.

On January 19, 2001, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, seeing the political upheaval throughout the country, decided to withdraw its support from the president and transfer its allegiance to the vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The following day, the Supreme Court declared that the seat of presidency was vacant. At noon, the Chief Justice swore in the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as President of the Philippines.

Estrada and his family were quickly evacuated from the presidential palace.

The new government charged him with plunder and had him arrested in April.

Estrada's supporters, particularly those among the poor, marched to the EDSA Shrine demanding Estrada's release and his reinstatement as president, attempting to replicate the success of the previous revolution. On the morning of May 1, the protesters marched straight to the presidential palace. Violence erupted and the government declared a State of Rebellion.

Many of Estrada's supporters were arrested, including politicians accused of provoking the violence. The government called out the military and was able to quell the rebellion. The rebellion came to be known as EDSA III.

On September 12, 2007, the Sandiganbayan now including Justice Diosdado Peralta, finally gave its decision, finding Estrada not guilty on his perjury case but guilty of plunder "beyond reasonable doubt." He was sentenced to Reclusión perpetua. He was thus the first Philippine President who was impeached and then convicted.

On October 25, 2007, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive clemency to Joseph Estrada based on the recommendation by the Department of Justice (DoJ) and on October 26, after almost 7 years of detention, Joseph Estrada was finally released after the Sandiganbayan promulgated the historical Resolution.

Estrada is married to (the former Doctor and first lady-turned-senator) Luisa Pimentel and had three children by her: Jose Ejercito, Jr. (better known as "Jinggoy Estrada"; former Mayor of San Juan turned senator), Jackie Ejercito and Jude Ejercito.

He also has children from four out-of-wedlock relationships, including San Juan City Mayor Joseph Victor "JV" Ejercito (from socialite Guia Gómez).

Vice President:

Jejomar Binay

Senators:

Juan Ponce Enrile
Jinggoy Estrada
Rodolfo Plaza
Jose De Venecia III
Apolinario Lozada
JV Bautista
Bong Revilla
Miriam Santiago