Estrada qualified to run for president in 2010, lawyer says

MANILA, Philippines - A lawyer of former President Joseph Estrada insisted Monday that his client is qualified to run in the 2010 presidential elections. In a statement, Lawyer Jay Flaminiano said no law would be violated should Estrada decide to aim for the presidency again, as the pardon granted to him was “unconditional." Flaminiano said the pardon also restored Estrada’s civil and political rights, allowing him to vote and to be voted upon. Aside from Flaminiano, Estrada’s team of lawyers includes Estelito Mendoza, former Supreme Court Chief Justice Andres Narvasa, Jose Flaminiano, father of Jay Flaminiano, Rene Saguisag and Justice Serafin Cuevas. Romulo Macalintal, President Arroyo’s election lawyer, said earlier that Estrada cannot run for president in 2010 because of a constitutional ban, and not due to a condition in the pardon granted to him in 2007. Macalintal said, “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection," he said, quoting section 4, Article VII of the Constitution. “Otherwise stated, when he took his oath as president in 1998, he knew the existence of the said provision of the Charter to which he swore, that as president, he ‘shall not be eligible for any reelection.’" However, Macalintal said Estrada can run for vice-president in 2010. “If he wins and something happens to the elected president, then he could become president; this time not by election, but by succession," Macalintal said. - GMANews.TV