Jinggoy Estrada

Newly re-elected Philippine Senator and actor Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada was mobbed by fellow Filipinos when he appeared at Lucky Plaza on June 5 at around 4pm.

His father had also been mayor of San Juan, as well as his half brother and fellow senator Joseph Victor Ejercito. He was then elected to the senate in 2004, where he served for two terms until 2016. The case against him is still ongoing as of 2022, and he maintains his innocence. Jinggoy has followed in his father’s footsteps as an actor. In what is a telling reminder of the power of political dynasties in the Philippines, Jinggoy ran for the senate as part of a slate of candidates promoted by Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr and Sara Duterte. At a campaign event covered by Philippine news outlet Rappler, Marcos Jr said that Jinggoy was innocent of the charges against him, implying that he had been politically targeted by the administration of then President Benigno Aquino. As reported by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, he was arrested in 2014 on plunder and graft charges, and was jailed until 2017 when he was granted bail. The senator appears to have been spotted as he entered the mall, and was surrounded by a dense crowd of onlookers trying to get selfies or Tiktok content with the senator-elect.