By Manny Mogato

MANILA — The Philippines’ former president and convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada vowed on Thursday to stage a comeback– on the big screen.

Estrada, an award-winning celluloid star before he went into politics, said filming on an as yet untitled movie would begin in May.

"I decided to make a comedy picture because of the increasing poverty," Estrada told a foreign correspondents’ forum in Manila. "Our people are all crying at home. So, I want to make them laugh when they see the movie for their relief."

Ousted in 2001 in a military-backed revolt and found guilty of plunder last year, Estrada was pardoned a month later to the delight of the poor voters who swept him to office in 1998.

He promised to quit politics but has remained a thorn in the side of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, his former vice-president, whom he has called on to quit amid a bubbling corruption scandal.

Renowned as a playboy president who was alleged to have made policy decisions after late night drinking sessions, Estrada has insisted he was framed on charges of diverting funds amounting to about 4 billion pesos ($97 million).

He plans to campaign for opposition groups in the next presidential election.

"I am predicting that 2010 would be an opposition year. We will wipe out this administration from the president down to the lowest elective position in the country."

Estrada’s gift of the gab and a movie career that spanned more than four decades endeared him to millions of Filipinos, who identify him with the Robin Hood-style heroes he used to play.

The 70-year-old said he would play a worker who has come back from overseas in the new film. The plot and script were still being worked on.