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Convicted former leader Joseph Estrada is hinting anew on his
interest to run in the 2010 election, adding another hue to the
country’s colorful political tapestry.
Estrada was convicted and pardoned for plunder
in 2007 after a seven-year trial that emphasized the country’s
political division throughout the term of his vice president and
successor, Gloria Arroyo.
He remains coy about his political plans but, in
a television interview, reminded the public that the option of
running in the presidential election in 2010 remains open.
“If the opposition doesn’t unite, I’ll be
forced to run. That’s my last option,” Estrada says in the
interview on cable news channel ANC.
Estrada blames Arroyo’s victory in the 2004
election on the failure of the opposition to field a common
candidate. That year, the fractured opposition was represented by
four candidates—including Estrada’s best friend, the Philippine
cinema legend Fernando Poe Jr. The result of that election remains
hotly contested in the court of public opinion.
Estrada’s statement comes days after an
October survey showed that he is second only to Vice President Noli
de Castro in the list of favorites to be the next president of the
Philippines. The others on the list were all opposition senators.
He says that the survey indicates the people
remain behind him despite his plunder conviction. This support, he
notes, is extended to his wife Luisa Ejercito and son Jinggoy who
were both elected into the Senate.
But while his conviction does not affect his
popularity, Es-trada’s decision to run for president could raise a
debate in legal circles. The Constitution requires that a
presidential candidate is a registered voter. There are views that a
court conviction is not an automatic disqualification from elective
office.
A lawyer who works for Mala-cañang says
Estrada’s qualification to run would hinge on the text of the
plunder conviction and the pardon Arroyo gave.
If the conviction does not impose a perpetual
ban on exercising political rights and the pardon restores all
Estrada’s political rights—including the right of
suffrage—then Estrada could be qualified to run for a second term.
The lawyer explains that a pardon does not
extinguish the conviction itself, although an absolute pardon would
extinguish the penalties of the conviction.
But even if Estrada hurdles this legal question,
another one would crop up—if he is qualified to run a second term.
The Philippine Constitution allows only one
six-year term for the President of the Republic.
But even this aspect would be up for debate
since Estrada never finished his term. He was ousted halfway into it
by a People Power revolt led by the influential Catholic Church and
elite businessmen and politicians long critical of Estrada’s
unorthodox demeanor as president.
Estrada, a B-movie actor po-pular for portraying
the downtrodden who triumphs in the end, had brought to Mala-cañang
his show business lifestyle—drinking sprees during late-night
Cabinet meetings, gambling and flamboyant lifestyle that allowed
each of his ladies a mansion.
All these traits that endeared him to the masses
got him ostracized by the conservative business and religious
groups.
Estrada’s latest statements may have triggered
a furor of speculation, but the former leader nevertheless remains
non-committal when directly asked about his political plans.
He says the election is still a year and a half
away. Estrada says he will make his a “final decision maybe one
year, eight months, before the election.”
Asked if he has a pet candidate at this point,
Estrada says he will also wait until the middle of 2009 before he
decides to throw his massive political machinery and financial
resources behind a particular candidate.
He has a basic idea of who it would be, though.
“Whoever will lead the survey, then that will be my pick,” he
says.
johnnavg@hotmail.com
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