Unconditional pardon will allow Erap to run anew

Ousted President Joseph Estrada could run for public office again if he is granted a full and unconditional pardon by President Arroyo, the government said yesterday.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno and acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera in separate interviews told reporters at Malacañang yesterday that the pardon would fully restore Estrada’s political and civil rights.

“He (Estrada) can vote again and be voted upon, but let’s wait first how the pardon would look like,” Devanadera said.    

Puno, who is also presidential adviser for political affairs, said the restoration of full political and civil rights to Estrada is necessary to enable him to help in fostering national unity.

“I think that the request for pardon is in itself already a gesture of reconciliation, and I’m very confident that this atmosphere of reconciliation will be fostered by the administration because the President after all has been constantly speaking about everybody coming together in unified fashion to help the country move forward,” he said.

“I think that since the former president has done in action something that would constitute an attempt to foster reconciliation, I’m confident that President Arroyo will reciprocate with a similar aggressive action to foster reconciliation among different political factions.”

Puno said it is urgent for all political sectors to bring everybody together – all the different political factions – into a less acrimonious, a less hostile environment.

“I think and I’m hoping that it (pardon) would lead to a less acrimonious and less hostile political competition, so that our democratic dialogue will be removed from all of these talks about coups and violent overthrow and all of these kinds of very negative things that are entering the minds of people,” he said.

The issue of forfeiture of Estrada’s assets is being carefully studied, Puno and Devanadera said.

Devanadera said various options are being studied, including partial forfeiture of assets as stated in the Sandiganbayan decision or all of the reported assets of Estrada.

The reported mansions and deposits of Estrada under a Muslim youth foundation could be easily forfeited in favor of the government, she added.

Devanadera said the pardon that Mrs. Arroyo would likely grant would be clear and unambiguous.

“If we are going to do this, we must do it well so that there would be no suspicions and we can see the sincerity of the President,” she said.

Devanadera and Puno were at Malacañang to attend the National Security Council meeting.

However, Estrada cannot run for the presidency again because under the Constitution a person can only serve for one term, a source at the Commission on Elections said yesterday.

“Only one term is allowed for a president, and if he is deemed resigned in 2001, then we are counting it as a full term here at the Comelec so he cannot run for president anymore,” the source said.

If the pardon restores the political rights of Estrada, he would be eligible to run for any public office except the presidency, the source said.

The source based this assumption on the pronouncement of Devanadera that Estrada would regain his civil and political rights after he is pardoned.

Devanadera to endorse pardon 

Devanadera said she is just waiting for all the legal requirements before she makes her recommendation to Mrs. Arroyo within this week.

“That the decision of the Sandiganbayan is already final and executory, I must have the withdrawal of the motion for reconsideration,” she said.

“That is already with my office now. I must have the order of the Sandiganbayan whether it is approving the withdrawal of the motion for reconsideration.”

Devanadera said she is recommending that Estrada’s civil and political rights be restored, and the forfeiture cases against his seized properties be allowed to continue.

“(There is) still an option to return, that’s really an option, but we’re more inclined for forfeiture,” she said.

Devanadera said the DOJ is strongly advising against returning to Estrada his seized properties and assets.

“My recommendation includes that the forfeiture cases will remain,” she said.

Devanadera said once Estrada’s political and civil rights are restored, he can again exercise his right to vote and be allowed to run for public office.

It is not necessary that Estrada admit his guilt before he is given pardon, she added.

However, Devanadera said Mrs. Arroyo may choose not to grant Estrada pardon.

“She has the right to exercise executive clemency,” she said.

“She has the best interest of the Filipino people. I think what will be good for the Filipino people will be the basic guide of the President.”

Act of statesmanship

Estrada’s decision to seek pardon from Mrs. Arroyo is a “singular act of statesmanship meant to heed the administration’s call for unity,” according to retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano, one of Estrada’s counsels.

“What he did was a singular act of statesmanship that is meant for the greater, national interest,” he said in an interview over radio station dzMM.

“They (Filipinos) don’t need a divided country. Our Republic needs recovery, not revenge.”

Flaminiano said an appeal before the Supreme Court would be futile since it would drag on for several years before any decision is handed down.

Estrada’s supporters will soon accept his decision to seek pardon, he added.

Flaminiano said Estrada decided to ask Mrs. Arroyo for a pardon after being convinced that his appeal to reverse the guilty verdict would fail.

The first indication came when Estrada heard in the news that Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro would not reverse the special division’s ruling, he added.

Flaminiano said Estrada also realized that the Supreme Court would uphold the Sandiganbayan decisions since the Tribunal had already rejected his petition questioning the legitimacy of Mrs. Arroyo’s presidency.

“We suggested the only way is to seek executive clemency with the higher interest of the nation,” he said.

Estrada did not ask for any condition in his request for pardon from Mrs. Arroyo, Flaminiano said.

Former senator Rene Saguisag, another of Estrada’s counsels, said he argued against an appeal on grounds that Chief Justice Reynato Puno voted against Estrada’s continued stay in office after he left Malacañang on Jan. 20, 2001.

“We don’t stand a chance to be acquitted because Puno was the one who invented  ‘constructive resignation,’” he said. “How can he (Puno) reverse himself?”

Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, a legal adviser of Estrada, said the 70-year-old ousted leader has no plans of going back to politics.

“He just wants to be a political statesman,” he said.

However, Estrada would continue to give political advice and endorse candidates, Rodriguez said.

Pardon  questioned

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan dared the administration yesterday to open to the public the issue of granting pardon to Estrada.

“Pardon is an act of grace that proceeds from the power entrusted with the execution of laws,” he said.

“Pardon, as any other power in government, emanates from the people. President Arroyo, therefore, needs to engage the public, solicit views, state under what circumstances former President Estrada qualifies for pardon, and, should she decide to grant him pardon, present the reasons why she did so. She is, first and foremost, answerable to the public.

“There are already speculations that President Arroyo is bound to grant Estrada pardon to set precedent in case she, too, finds herself in the same predicament in the future. Bottom line here is, be it Estrada or Arroyo in hot water, pardon must not be used as a tool to mock our justice system.”

Pangilinan said the government should carefully study the granting of pardon to Estrada because the case will have a bearing on how similar cases are treated in the future.

On the other hand, Sen. Richard Gordon said this might not be the proper time to grant pardon to  Estrada.

“After taking the high road in bringing former President Joseph Estrada to trial and securing a conviction against him, the nation will be retreating to international ridicule and disrespect by cravenly trying to appease him with a presidential pardon – if certain officials and politicians have their way,” he said.

Gordon said the law and justice should not be tempered with mercy.

“In the history of the world, we find numerous examples of the honorable course for a nation to follow in handling the celebrated cases of former leaders and statesmen,” he said.

“That course is for the nation to be firm and fair, and to pay decent regard not only for the opinion of its own people but that of the international community as well.

“This is the course which Peru is now following in seeking justice against its former president Alberto Fujimori, after seven years of trying to repatriate him.  This is the course which (South) Korea followed in trying and convicting several of its former presidents.

“This is also the course the Philippines has followed in bringing President Estrada to trial. We risk the scorn of other nations if we just throw away the vindication won at such great cost and effort.”

Mass action

Anti-Estrada groups warned President Arroyo yesterday of mass actions if she grants pardon to ousted President Joseph Estrada.

During a press conference held at Max’s Restaurant in Quezon City, members of the so-called civil society tore copies of the Bill of Rights and placed their thumb marks on a manifesto.

Lawyer Leonard de Vera, E-Just Movement chairman, said Estrada would not have withdrawn his motion for reconsideration from the Sandiganbayan and waived his right to appeal to the Supreme Court if he had not received a guarantee that he would be given absolute and unconditional pardon.

De Vera said Estrada’s plunder conviction will be erased once he is granted an absolute and unconditional pardon.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Arroyo will contradict the very essence of her ascendancy to power if she grants pardon to Estrada, her former legal advisers said yesterday.

“The present administration was borne out of a revolt by the people against greed, arrogance and corruption. It must heed the lessons of history,” said private lawyers, mostly from Villaraza and Angangco law office.

“If we are to learn lessons from this dark episode in our nation’s history, we must all stand against the ends of justice being sacrificed for political expediency disguised in the name of national unity and reconciliation.

The lawyers said Estrada has not even “shown an ounce of remorse nor has he offered to make any restitution to the nation.”

“While politicians stumble over each other to offer him clemency, Estrada sits arrogantly in his rest house waiting for an offer that will please him, even declaring that he should dictate the terms of his amnesty or pardon,” the lawyers said.

“The historic trial for corruption of a former president must not be reduced to a farce. Political accommodations in the name of unity and reconciliation are a sham. Amnesty or pardon without sincere repentance and full restitution is an affront to our people.”

The lawyers said unlike Estrada, a former internal revenue cashier who was also convicted of plunder for stealing P266 million in taxes, is still languishing in jail.

“The amount of money Dominga Manalili has stolen pales in comparison to the billions of Estrada,” the lawyers said.

“Yet the privilege of amnesty or pardon is being considered. This dispenses justice with an evil eye and an uneven hand – one for the weak and another for the mighty.

“Let not the seductive siren call of political expediency allow an undeserving convict, no matter how powerful, to be granted amnesty or pardon meant only to serve selfish ends.”

Among the lawyers is Raoul Angangco, an associate of Pancho Villaraza, who used to be very close to Mrs. Arroyo. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Sandy Araneta, Delon Porcalla, Aurea Calica