Lozano appeals dismissal of Erap disqualification case

Lawyer Oliver Lozano on Wednesday filed a motion for reconsideration with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after the poll body junked his petition to disqualify former President Joseph “Erap" Estrada in the 2010 presidential race. Lozano at the same time said he is preparing a graft complaint against Comelec officials, including chairman Jose Melo, for allegedly causing “undue injury" to him and giving “undue benefit" to Estrada. In his eight-page petition, Lozano accused Comelec of “gross ignorance of the law" when it dismissed his petition two days after he filed it. He said Estrada’s election bid is against the provisions of the 1987 Constitution. Estrada, elected in 1998, was forced to step down in January 2001 amid corruption charges. He was convicted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan in September 2007 and was meted reclusion perpetua and disqualified from seeking any public office. He was, however, pardoned by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the next month. Lozano, a lawyer who has been known to file a lot of publicized legal suits including impeachment complaints against President Arroyo, cited Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution as “proof" that the president shall not be eligible for any reelection. Earlier in the day, the Comelec junked the petition for being “premature," stressing that Estrada has yet to file his certificate of candidacy (COC). But Lozano said a COC is not required if a petition similar to what he filed against Estrada is based on the need to prohibit something not allowed by the Constitution. "The purpose of the prohibition is to prohibit the filing of COC. Why wait for the certificate? Why wait for the certificate? This is ridiculous!" he said. "If you wait and allow the filing of a COC vis-à-vis the constitutional prohibition, that is culpable violation of the fundamental law which is impeachable," he added. Melo, on the other hand, was unfazed by Lozano’s threat to lodge a complaint against him and other Comelec officials. "If you are a lawyer and a judge rules against you, you do not hit the judge," he said in an interview. - GMANews.TV