Estrada family foregoes funeral march to avoid causing traffic jam

MANILA, Philippines — With the big number of people paying their last respects to his mother Mary, former President Joseph Estrada has decided to do away with the funeral march for her Saturday morning. Pagsanjan, Laguna mayor Emilio Ramon (ER) Ejercito III said the former President did not want to cause traffic during the trip from the St. John the Baptist Church to San Juan Cemetery. Those joining the funeral procession would just board vehicles instead of march to the cemetery. "Napakaraming sasama, ang immediate family pa lang 50-plus na. Hindi na kami maglalakad (There are just so many people. The immediate family alone already has 50-plus members. We cannot walk to the cemetery without causing traffic)," Ejercito said in an interview on dzRH radio. Doña Mary, who died at age 103 last Tuesday, was to be brought from the St. John the Baptist Church to the San Juan public Cemetery where she will be buried in the Ejercito mausoleum. Mayor Ejercito also recalled that when his father, Emilio Ejercito Jr. (George Estregan) died, the funeral march to the San Juan cemetery caused heavy traffic. At posting time, members of former President Estrada's Cabinet, including former health secretary Alberto Romualdez Jr., started arriving Saturday morning for the funeral procession. At least 230 police personnel have been deployed to key areas at the procession route. - GMANews.TV