MANILA -- "What goes around comes around". Former Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, known as " Erap" to friends and supporters, is proving the popular American adage to be true.

After Monday's mid-term elections, Estrada appeared to be headed for victory as the next mayor of Manila, the political and cultural capital of the Philippines.

By a slim margin, Estrada, 76, has trounced incumbent Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, 83, in one of the most hotly contested local elections in the country.

Estrada, a former movie actor, started his political career as mayor of the suburban town of San Juan, now a city. He later became a senator, vice president, and eventually won as president in the l998 elections.

However, his six-year term was cut short when a military-backed civilian uprising, now known as Second EDSA People Power rebellion, ousted him from power in early 2001. He was succeeded by then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

After he fell from power, Estrada was charged and convicted for plunder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was immediately pardoned by then President Arroyo.

During the campaign, Estrada said he wanted to end his political career by serving as mayor of Manila. He said he was born in Tondo, one of the city's depressed areas.

"Manila is the nerve center of the Philippines. Malacanang ( presidential palace) is in Manila and its glory should be restored, " Estrada said.

"I want to dedicate the last few years of my life to Manila," he added.

Aside from Estrada, former President Arroyo is also headed to serve another term in House of Representatives as unofficial results on Monday night showed her leading her closest opponent in the second congressional district in Pampanga, Arroyo's home province some 100 kilometers north of Manila.

Arroyo is facing a string of criminal charges and is now under hospital arrest in a suburban medical facility.

Former First Lady Imelda Marcos is also winning by a big margin in her reelection bid as representative from the second district of Ilocos Norte, the home province of her husband, the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

In the senatorial race, it also appeared that the team handpicked by President Benigno Aquino III is heading for a big win.

As of midnight Monday when some 30 million votes or 70 percent of the total votes cast were canvassed, nine candidates from Aquino's team were in the winning list while only three were from the opposition group headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay.

The country, with a population of about 100 million, has 52 million registered voters.

The winning senatorial slate is headed by Grace Poe, daughter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., who ran but lost to Arroyo in the 2004 presidential election. Later, however, there were reports that the 2004 polls were rigged in favor of Arroyo.

Since majority of the 12 incoming senators are from the coalition formed by Aquino, it is a foregone conclusion that incumbent Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile would be on his way out.

Officials of the ruling Liberal Party are saying that LP chairman Franklin Drilon and concurrently a senator, would assume the senate presidency when the Philippine Congress resumes its sessions in July. Drilon has been senate president before.

While police authorities have said that Monday's balloting was relatively peaceful compared to previous elections, it was still marred by election-related violence, rampant vote-buying, intimidations, and computer glitches.

The Philippine National Police said that there were 81 cases of election-related violence, with 20 deaths, during the campaign period as compared to more than a hundred in the 2010 elections.

In a statement Monday, the PNP said only 13 election-related incidents occurred on election day with two casualties and nine wounded. There was a fatality reported in a shooting incident in Sulu in the Southern Philippines and another in an incident in Quaipo, Manila.

Despite efforts by the Commission on Elections to stop politicians from buying votes, money changed hands in many parts of the country on Monday, mostly given to impoverished voters.

Reports said that in central and northern Luzon, vote-buying went on from Sunday night till voters went to the polls Monday.

Aside from vote-buying, there were also attempts to tinker with the automated ballot scanners to favor certain candidates.