MANILA, Philippines - No more politics for him.
Former President and Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada shrugged off reports yesterday that the Supreme Court is set to disqualify him, saying he intended to retire from politics in 2016.
In a press conference yesterday, Estrada said the Manila mayor’s post is his last as an elective official, and that he “felt vindicated having won as mayor in the 2013 elections” against incumbent Alfredo Lim.
In 2010, Estrada ran again for president, garnering the second highest votes after then senator Benigno Aquino III.
Estrada said he hoped to turn over the city government to Vice Mayor Isko Moreno in 2016.
The former president stressed that he would stand by his commitment to Moreno that he would serve only one term as mayor.
“There will be no more second term for me. I have a very good vice mayor to continue the projects that I have started,” Estrada said. “He is very much qualified.”
Lim’s lawyer Alicia Rios-Vidal filed the disqualification case, arguing that Estrada’s conviction for plunder disqualified him from running for public office.
Estrada has countered that the pardon granted to him by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fully restored his political rights. Lim’s camp argues that the pardon is not absolute.
Reports have swirled in the past weeks that the Supreme Court is ready with its decision, disqualifying Estrada, who was ousted as president in a people power uprising in 2001.