Joseph Estrada: The Philippine politician who can't stop apologising
Joseph Estrada pledges to say sorry over 2010 Manila bus tragedy; his Filipino detractors point to his 'millions, mansions and mistresses'
Now that's an act he had a lot of practice in - apologising. A self-acclaimed womaniser and philanderer, "Erap", as Estrada is popularly known, in the past had to repeatedly beg forgiveness from his wife, Luisa. One time he did it in style, with flowers and accompanied by musicians playing violin.
A black sheep of his family, Estrada kept saying sorry to his mother Maria for always getting into trouble when he was young. Expelled from middle school for fighting and never completing college, he was a constant worry for her.
His success as a movie star and politician never cut any ice with her. One story attributed to her goes that a few years before she died, when somebody told her that she should be proud of her son becoming the president of the Philippines, she is reported to have replied: "But my other son is a doctor."
But even as he kept apologising to his wife, the number of scandals continued to grow around him as he became a popular movie star. Rumours link him to numerous mistresses and nine children, but legally he has only one wife and three children.
During his 75th birthday bash in April last year, Estrada joked: "Don't take it against me if I took the Bible … too seriously when it said 'go and multiply'."