Former president Joseph Estrada now marks his return to public office by winning the mayoral race in the city of Manila against longtime mayor Alfredo Lim, who was gunning for his third term.

Estrada was formally recognized as the mayor-elect on the afternoon of May 14 after the Commission on Elections allowed local governments to declare winners even if not all the votes have been counted providing that the proclamation will not affect the final tally.

In the partial and unofficial count on GMANetwork.com, Estrada, a member of the United Nationalist Alliance, garnered 288,058 votes, defeating Lim of the Liberal Party who only had 257,631 votes as of 3:25 P.M. Estrada's running mate, former actor Isko Moreno, also won in his bid for the city’s vice-mayor.

Estrada, who used to be the mayor of the former municipality of San Juan, was elected president in 1998 after having served as a senator and as the vice president during the term of Fidel Ramos. He was ousted during the People Power II revolution in 2001 after going through a controversial impeachment trial. He was convicted of plunder in 2007, but then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned his life imprisonment term. Estrada then tried his political luck again when he joined the presidential race in 2010, only to lose to current leader Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“I thank the great people of Manila for putting a true son of Manila at the helm of the Philippine capital city,” Estrada said in a statement released on the night of May 13. “Dear Manileños, I will not fail you. I was born in Manila, and I will die working to bring back the glory and pride to Manila.”

(Photo by Ramon FVelasquez via Wikimedia Commons)