Local elections were held in Manila on May 13, 2013, within the Philippine general election. The voters elected for the elective local posts in the city: the mayor, vice mayor, the six congressmen, and the councilors, six in each of the city's six legislative districts.
Mayor Alfredo Lim ran for the mayorship for the third consecutive time; if he won, he would have been prohibited to run in 2016 due to term limits. Lim's opponent was former senator, vice president, deposed president then convicted plunderer and defeated 2010 presidential candidate, Joseph Estrada, who was a longtime San Juan mayor; in order to run for the mayorship, Estrada had to transfer his residence from San Juan to Manila. The two formerly contested the presidency in 1998, with Estrada emerging victorious.
Estrada's running mate was Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, who has served since 2007; had he won, he would be term-limited in 2016. Actor and 6th District Councilor Lou Veloso was Lim's running mate; Veloso was the councilor elected with the highest percentage of votes in 2010.
Mayoral and vice mayoral election
On May 4, 2012, Vice Mayor Isko Moreno joined the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino party, fueling speculations that he would be former President Joseph Estrada's running mate. Estrada would confirm this on May 9, 2012, but, for one term only. On May 7, 2012, Incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim announced he will run for re-election and said that Moreno was his original running mate.
A year prior to the election, Estrada transferred his residence from San Juan to Santa Mesa, Manila; this was made official by the Manila City Hall. Estrada's Manila home was formerly the headquarters of President Ramon Magsaysay during the 1953 presidential election.
On September 18, 2012, Lim announced that he has picked 6th District Councilor Lou Veloso to be his running mate. Lim noted that Veloso is the councilor that emerged with the most votes in the last local elections.
On October 1, 2012, during the first day of filing of certificate of candidacies, Lim and Veloso, along with their ticket's 36 city council bets, filed their certificate of candidacies at the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) field office in Arroceros, Manila. Lim is supported by all but one of the incumbent congressmen of Manila - Benjamin Asilo of the 1st District, Carlo Lopez of the 2nd District, Zenaida Angping of the 3rd District, Trisha Bonoan-David of the 4th District, and Sandy Ocampo of the 6th District. 5th District Representative Amado Bagatsing originally supported him but endorsed Estrada instead. Lim also said that his 2013 campaign will be his last as he intends to retire from politics in 2016. He had previously served as mayor from 1992 to 1998, Secretary of the Interior and Local Government under Estrada from 2000 to 2001, lost the mayorship to Estrada ally Lito Atienza in 2001, elected Senator in 2004 under the Estrada-backed Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, and retook the mayorship from Atienza's son Ali in 2007, then successfully defending it against Atienza himself in 2010.
A day later, Estrada and Moreno filed their certificate of candidacies. Estrada left his home at Santa Mesa with Moreno aboard his jeepney he made famous during the 1998 presidential election. Estrada drove the jeepney to the COMELEC office at Arroceros; the United Nationalist Alliance-backed Estrada ticket includes 29 of the incumbent 36 councilors. The contest between Lim and Estrada has been billed by many as "Dirty Harry vs. Asiong Salonga", with Lim being previously referred to as "Dirty Harry", and Estrada having played Asiong Salonga in a movie.
Aside from Lim and Estrada, other candidates include Marino Magallanes, a fortune teller from Quiapo, mechanical engineer and perennial candidate Onofre Abad, lawyer Felix Cantal, Samuel Gabot, Rodolfo Lim and driver Fidel Cruz.
On January 7, 2013, the Sandiganbayan ruled to dismiss via technicality a petition disqualifying Estrada from running due to a condition from his pardon granted by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that said he would not seek elective office. However, he faced other disqualification cases from the same issue at the Commission on Elections and at the Regional Trial Court.
On January 16, the commission disqualified all of the mayoral candidates, save for Estrada and Lim, and declared them as "nuisance candidates."
