CBCP chief to Erap: Just quit politics

MANILA, Philippines - As debates on whether former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada can run for the presidency next year raged, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines' chief on Wednesday advised the deposed leader to quit politics. CBCP president Angel Lagdameo said Estrada, who was ousted in 2001 and pardoned in 2007, should give others a chance to lead the country. “Be like Presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos who will act as a kind of adviser and even ‘tutor’ to the newly elected president. This is a very rare and extraordinary office and he has already tested it," Lagdameo said in an article posted on the CBCP Web site early Wednesday. Estrada, citing opinions of several “legal luminaries," had insisted he is still eligible to run for President in next year’s polls, especially if the opposition failed to agree on united bet. But his political opponents had argued he would violate the 1987 Constitution, which bars an elected President from seeking another term in office. Some sectors, on the other hand, had suggested that Estrada could run for Prime Minister once the Constitution is amended. The CBCP played a key role in Estrada’s ouster stemming from corruption charges. - GMANews.TV