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Petition to disqualify Erap in 2010 polls filed with Comelec


(Updated 9:40 p.m.) A lawyer closely associated with former President Marcos filed a petition Monday asking the Comelec to disqualify former President Joseph Estrada from the 2010 presidential race, even though the deposed leader has yet to file his certificate of candidacy. Oliver Lozano, who has gained notoriety for his habit of repeatedly jumping the gun in prematurely filing impeachment complaints against President Arroyo, referred to himself as a presidential aspirant and said in an eight-page petition that he “respectfully prayed" that Estrada, who last week announced his bid for reelection, be disqualified from running for president again.
Who is Oliver Lozano?
Oliver Lozano, a graduate of the UP College of Law, is a Marcos loyalist who hails from Ilocos Norte. He sought a senatorial seat in the 2007 elections under the Marcoses' Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) party, but lost to more popular candidates. Lozano's primary "claim to fame" was the impeachment complaint he filed against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2005 over the "Hello Garci" controversy. It had seven supplemental affidavits of complaint. Later, Lozano filed an "amended complaint" against the President. But this complaint, along with another one filed by lawyer Jose Rizaldo Lopez, were dismissed by the House committee on Justice because under the law, only one impeachment complaint against the President can be considered within a year. The Justice committee found the original Lozano complaint sufficient in form, but not in substance. The decision was subsequently upheld by the majority of the House plenary, who voted to junk the complaint. In October 2008, Lozano again tried to file an impeachment complaint against the President, this time based on the ZTE scandal and the government's botched memorandum of agreement on ancestral domain (MOA-AD) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The filing of the complaint, however, was preceded by the one lodged by civil society leaders led by Jose de Venecia III. Lozano's latest publicized legal suit was his petition asking the Supreme Court to nullify the House-approved House Resolution 1109, which calls on Congress to convene itself into a constituent assembly. The petition was dismissed by the high court for being premature. - Jam Sisante, GMANews.TV
“Ex-President Estrada is assailed for breaking the law, the Constitution and his alleged word of honor not to run for reelection to avoid imprisonment for plunder through pardon," Lozano said in the petition. Lozano noted that Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution states that the President shall not be eligible for any reelection. “The people are entitled to know the truth and the law on the matter vis-à-vis the conflicting views. Indeed, all must bow and render obeisance to the majesty of the law and supremacy of the Constitution, otherwise, anarchy will reign," he said. Whether or not Estrada, a convicted plunderer, could seek reelection next year has been the subject of debates among legal luminaries. [See: Estrada's 2010 presidential bid revives legal debate] Estrada won in the 1998 elections but was dethroned in 2001 over corruption charges. He was convicted of plunder, sentenced to reclusion perpetua, and disqualified from seeking any public office by the Sandiganbayan in September 2007. He was, however, granted executive clemency by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo a month later. Premature Ex-President Joseph "Erap" Estrada's spokesperson Margaux Salcedo shrugged off Lozano's disqualification petition as "so obviously premature that it almost seems as if Atty. Lozano is either making a mockery of the Comelec or deliberately making a laughingstock of himself to make headlines." Salcedo added that since Estrada has not yet filed his certificate of candidacy (COC), any petition to disqualify him at this point is "premature, bears no justiciable controversy, is clearly not ripe for adjudication and should be dismissed by the Comelec outright." Lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan of the Comelec Law Department also described Lozano’s petition as “premature," noting that Estrada has yet to file his COC. The official period for the filing of COC for next year's elections will be from November 20 to 30, 2009.

“Alam mo naman yang si Lozano, file lang nang file, hindi naman nananalo (You know Lozano, he has a habit of filing petitions even without winning)," Rafanan said. Lozano had filed impeachment complaints against President Arroyo in 2005 and 2008. But Lozano insisted that the filing of COCs "is mere technicality which should be set aside for not being in aid of justice, especially if the respondent welcomes the petition in the interest of sporting fair play as shown in the proceeding," he said. Lozano expressed confidence that his petition would be given "due course" when Estrada files his COC. "Besides, rules of procedures in administrative proceedings are detechnicalized in the paramount of justice," he said. Rafanan said it is up to the Comelec en banc to decide on what should be done with Lozano’s petition. Comelec chairman Jose Melo could not be immediately reached for comment. - with report from Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV
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