Erap better on birthday, moved to regular room

FORMER president and local chief executive Joseph Ejercito “Erap” Estrada received possibly the best gift after being returned to a regular room during his birthday on Monday, his son confirmed on Tuesday.

Former senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said his father was back in the regular room on Monday when the latter celebrated his 84th birthday.

The former leader was moved to the intensive care unit (ICU) last week for a bacterial infection in his lungs.

“My father has been wheeled back to a regular room yesterday and continues to improve steadily,” Jinggoy said in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

He noted that Estrada had no fever and his oxygen need was lower.

“His doctors are also starting him on pulmonary rehabilitation to hasten the recovery of his lung function,” Jinggoy said.

Estrada was brought to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan City on March 28 after he showed symptoms like fatigue, difficulty of breathing and cough.

It was learned that he had tested positive for Covid-19 and has been confined in the hospital since.

Estrada was first moved to the Covid ICU on April 5, then was ventilated a day later.

He eventually got better and tested negative for Covid-19 on April 13.

“We hope that the rest of his recovery is uneventful and we ask that you join us in praying for him,” Jinggoy said.

The veteran politician served as president from 1998, but his rule was cut short in 2001 over corruption allegations.

His last public service was almost two years ago when he served as mayor of the city of Manila from 2013 until 2019.