MANILA - Although toppled from power and convicted and jailed for plunder,
former Philippines president Joseph Estrada is still bent on recapturing the
Malacanang presidential palace at next May's national elections.
Speaking last week before some 10,000 enthusiastic supporters in Manila's Tondo
district, a slum area that forms part of his political mass base, Estrada said
that in seeking a new the presidency he wanted to pursue his pro-poor programs
that were derailed when an army-backed "people power" revolt ousted him in
2001.
Amid the crowd's wild cheers, the 72-year-old former movie actor
said that, if elected again, this would be his "last performance" and that he
desired to be remembered for "championing the cause of the masses".
Dismayed over unabated kidnappings, terrorism and lawlessness, Estrada also
vowed to wage an all-out war against Muslim and communist insurgents, saying
peace was impossible when such troubles prevailed.
In reaction, the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front branded Estrada's
statement as "cheap propaganda" and described him as a "war freak". It claimed
that the former president's "bloody campaign", which enabled the military to
seize rebel camps in Mindanao, had only worsened the region's peace and
stability problems.
Expressing no regret over his "all-out war" policy, Estrada criticized his
successor, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who served as vice president in
his administration, for forging a truce with the rebels, saying they only used
it to re-group, re-arm and re-train to launch renewed attacks against security
forces and civilian communities.
Ironically, Estrada favors legalizing jueteng, an illegal but popular
form of gambling in the country. Among the charges that legally brought him
down from power were accusations that he pocketed bribes from gambling
syndicates.
Campaigning on a populist platform, Estrada was elected in 1998 for a six-year
term with over 10 million votes, the highest in Philippine election history.
When he was overthrown in 2001, corruption allegations also included skimming
off tobacco taxes.
Detained for six years while his trial proceeded, Estrada was found guilty by
an anti-graft court for plunder and sentenced to life imprisonment in October
2007. He was freed a month later, after Arroyo pardoned him in the spirit of
reconciliation.
But Estrada, harboring bitterness over his incarceration inside a military camp
in Tanay Rizal, east of Manila, insisted on his innocence of the crimes imputed
against him, saying, "I had not done anything wrong."
Mincing no words, he blamed the conspiracy of the rich, powerful and
influential political and business elites, including some Catholic Church
leaders, for his "unconstitutional, illegal and immoral" sacking from office,
which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
Estrada dismissed as baseless his critics' claims that the Philippine
constitution barred him from running again for a public office, arguing the
prohibition applied only to a sitting president, like Arroyo, and not to
himself.
He said this was also the stand of legal luminaries, including deans of law
schools and retired Supreme Court justices whom he had consulted. Other lawyers
also noted that Estrada's legal and political rights, including the right to
vote and to run for office, were restored when Arroyo granted him executive
clemency.
They quoted Arroyo's pardon order, which said, "In view hereof and pursuant to
the authority conferred upon me by the constitution, I hereby grant executive
clemency to Joseph Ejercito Estrada, convicted of plunder and imposed a penalty
of reclusion perpetua[permanent imprisonment]. He is hereby restored his
civil and political rights."
At a news conference, Arroyo's executive secretary, Eduardo Ermita, clarified
that the pardon was conditional, citing a portion of the order which stated:
"Whereas Joseph Ejercito Estrada has publicly committed to no longer seek any
elective position or office ... ".
Ermita, who heads of President Arroyo's political party, the
Lakas-Kampi-NUCD-CMD, which is fielding Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as
its presidential candidate in next year's elections, admitted it is now up to
the courts to rule on the legality of Estrada's presidential bid.
Estrada's lawyers said they expected a deluge of disqualification cases to be
lodged against him before the courts and the Commission on Elections (Comelec)
once he files his certificate of candidacy next month. "We are ready," one of
the lawyers said.
Comelec chairman Jose Melo said they had no basis to deny Estrada's candidacy
in the absence of any formal complaint. "Right now, he is qualified because
nobody is contesting his qualifications," he said.
The church and business sectors are known to oppose Estrada, citing his alleged
womanizing, gambling and drinking vices. He has acknowledged having fathered
children born out of wedlock.
In any event, Estrada's chances of winning the presidency are also questioned.
His rivals notably include Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino, son of the late
opposition senator Benigno Aquino Jr and democracy icon and former president
Corazon Aquino.
Benigno Aquino, who opposed then-president Ferdinand Marcos' rule of martial
law, was assassinated on August 21, 1983, at Manila airport while under
military custody. That incident sparked a "people power" revolt that forced
Marcos to flee to Hawaii, where he later died in exile.
Banking on his parents' popularity as "champions of democracy", the 39-year-old
Senator Aquino, backed by civil society groups, has topped recent nationwide
opinion poll surveys, making him the frontrunner to win the presidential race.
Another opposition bet is Senator Manuel Villar, a real-estate businessman who
boasts a reputed 2 billion pesos (US$43 million) war chest to bankroll his
political campaign. Villar trails Aquino in surveys, while Estrada is a distant
third.
Not to be counted out is Defense Secretary Teodoro, who has the significant
financial and logistical backing of Arroyo's ruling party. Adding intrigue to
the race, Aquino and Teodoro are cousins and related by blood to tycoon Eduardo
Cojuangco Jr, chairman of San Miguel Corp, Southeast Asia's largest listed food
and beverage conglomerate.
Cojuangco, who ran and lost in the 1992 presidential elections, heads the
opposition Nationalist People's Coalition, which is also fielding its own
presidential candidate.
Political analysts say that Estrada remains a formidable political force
despite the legal controversy and his current low position in the polls. He
still commands legions of loyalists, particularly in the vote-rich Visayas and
Mindanao regions and even in Metro Manila, long acknowledged as an opposition
bailiwick.
Al Labita has worked as a journalist for over 30 years, including as a
regional bureau chief and foreign editor for the Philippine News Agency. He has
worked as a Manila correspondent for several major local publications and wire
agencies in Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom.
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