Erap faces arrest if he runs in 2010 polls, lawyer says

It isn’t just the 1987 Constitution that prohibits former President Joseph Estrada from running for president in the 2010 elections. His former lawyer, Allan Paguia, said on Monday that Estrada would be violating the conditional pardon granted to him by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo shortly after the former Philippine leader was convicted of plunder in 2007. Earlier, constitutional experts and legal luminaries said that Estrada could no longer take another shot at the presidency because the 1987 Constitution explicitly prohibits him, or any elected president, from seeking reelection. In an interview on GMA News’ Unang Hirit, Paguia said Estrada could be jailed because his pardon was granted on the condition that he will not seek any elective position. Paguia cited a portion of Mrs. Arroyo’s order granting Estrada executive clemency, which read: "Whereas, Joseph Ejercito Estrada has publicly committed to no longer seek any elective position or office." The lawyer added: "Insofar as my opinion is concerned, that is giving (Mrs. Arroyo) the option to declare the pardon as violated." But Estrada’s camp insisted President Arroyo gave an absolute pardon. "Legally, it is plain that the pardon granted was an absolute [one] and not a conditional pardon," Estrada’s spokesperson, Margaux Salcedo, told GMA News.

Malacañang’s top legal eagle believes otherwise. "The pardon was conditional," chief presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez said in a text message to GMANews.TV on Monday. Asked whether Estrada is automatically banned from running for president because of the conditional pardon, Gonzalez answered, "Yes." Gonzalez’s opinion differed from that of his predecessor, Sergio Apostol, who said that the pardon given Estrada was not a ground for stopping Estrada from running in 2010. [See: Pardon can’t stop Erap candidacy – Palace exec] In June 2008, Apostol said the paragraph in Mrs. Arroyo’s order granting the pardon was "just a whereas clause" and that Estrada was not bound by it. Nonetheless, Apostol stressed that the Constitution prohibits Estrada from seeking another shot at the presidency. Gonzalez agreed. "(Estrada could not run for president again) because of the constitutional ban more importantly." Also on Monday, former Senate President Franklin Drilon said he believes Estrada received an absolute pardon. "Ang basa ko sa pardon ay absolute. Walang ipinagbabawal na ibalik ang karapatang pagtakbo (I think the pardon was absolute and it does not bar Estrada from running in 2010," he said in an interview on Unang Hirit. The Constitution says no However, Drilon echoed Gonzalez and Apostol and said that the Constitution is an impediment to Estrada’s possible presidential bid. "Ang Saligang Batas ay may prohibition against any reelection (The Constitution has a prohibition against any reelection)," he said. Recently, Estrada had floated the idea that he would run for president if the opposition fails to unite in fielding a single candidate for the 2010 polls, sparking a debate whether the deposed leader was still qualified for another term. But even those who drafted the 1987 Constitution said the law bars Estrada, or any elected president, from seeking reelection. Ateneo School of Law dean emeritus Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ cites Article VII, Section 4 of the Constitution, which states that, "The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time." Former Elections chair Christian Monsod, also part of the 1986 Constitutional Commission delegates, agreed with Bernas. "You only get one shot to serve as elected president. There should be absolutely no second election at all." Guilty of plunder On Sept. 12, 2007, the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan convicted Estrada of plunder and sentenced him up to 40 years in prison. Barely a month later, on October 25 that year, Mrs. Arroyo pardoned Estrada, which subsequently restored his political and civil rights. [See: Arroyo frees Erap as Senate pries into her role in ZTE deal] "In view hereof in pursuant of the authority conferred upon me by the Constitution, I hereby grant Executive clemency to Joseph Ejercito Estrada…He is hereby restored to his civil and political rights," read the order signed by President Arroyo. Last May 19, 2009, former Supreme Court associate justice Serafin Cuevas said among the rights that were restored included Estrada’s right to seek public office once more. - GMANews.TV