FILE - In this July 26, 2009, file photo former Philippine pre, , sident and action movie star Joseph Estrada waves to fans as he attends a healing mass for cancer-stricken former President Corazon Aquino in Manila, Philippines. Estrada is returning to the big screen with his first film since he was toppled on corruption charges. The 72-year-old started filming a comedy Wednesday, July 29, 2009, his spokeswoman Margaux Salcedo said. (AP Photo) Former Philippine President Joseph Estrada, once an action movie star, is returning to the big screen with his first film since he was toppled on corruption charges. The 72-year-old started filming a comedy Wednesday about a minibus driver trying to deal with his daughter's plans to marry her Filipino-American boyfriend, his spokeswoman Margaux Salcedo said. "He really thinks that the poor, who are already suffering, should not be made to cry some more in the movies," Salcedo said. "He wants to make them happy, even if only briefly." Estrada built his political career as a champion of the poor, largely based on his movie roles as an underdog. He rose from town mayor to senator to vice president before taking the presidency. He stepped down amid massive protests in 2001 after serving only half of his six-year term. He was convicted of "plunder" in September 2007 but was immediately granted a pardon by his successor and political nemesis, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Estrada has said he will consider running for president again next year and that the constitutional ban on a second term does not apply to him. Estrada, with his trademark mustache, pompadour and wristband, is a Filipino movie hall-of-famer, having starred in more than 100 films. His last movie, "Sa Kuko ng Agila (In the Eagle's Claws)" — made in 1989 while he was a senator — portrays him as another minibus driver who opposes U.S. military bases in the Philippines. "This is like his comeback film," Salcedo said of the new project. "He hasn't done a movie in so long." Sources: Sina.com
