Estrada should stop foisting himself on the people

The Arroyo government, with too many anomalies making such a racket it is like a bridal car dragging strings of empty cans around the global neighborhood, has adopted a policy of detachment that is perceptively starting to pay off.

By refusing to take the bait on several issues, it has succeeded in steering clear of potential anomalies not of its own making. While anomalies never seem to leave any Philippine administration alone, the past few months have seen the Arroyo government gain breathing space.

Take the case of Joseph Estrada, the ousted leader who was later convicted of plunder but sprung from prison by an Arroyo pardon, on condition he does not make another go at the coveted presidency, which the former actor claims he never left but was duped into abandoning.

Estrada has lately been touring the country in an obvious attempt to condition the minds of people that he will be running again for president even if his usual line is that he will only do so if the "united" opposition cannot unite.

But Estrada is not as feeble-minded as some people are tempted to project him. Surely Estrada must have long determined that there is no way ambitious people can unite, whether they are with the opposition or not.

In other words, he knows he is bent on running but is not prepared to do so without any unbelievably worthless alibi like having been prompted to do so by a hopelessly fragmented opposition.

And so, as Estrada traipses all over the country, repeating his jaded mantra of a disunited opposition, he is actually trying to bait the Arroyo administration into engaging him frontally on such a proposition.

There is practical reason for his wanting to engage the administration on the issue. He hopes that a debate on the matter can trigger fresh debates that he hopes will regain for him his once fabled title of champion for the poor and the oppressed.

But the Arroyo administration is not feeble-minded as well. Steeped in controversies, it has managed to learn its lessons well. It knows better after each debacle. If there is any gain it derived from controversy, it is the ability to sidestep the traps.

So the Arroyo administration refuses to engage Estrada in a debate over what happens if he runs, despite the fact that both are parties to that covenant governing the conduct of his pardon and release from prison.

To the constant taunting of Estrada, the Palace is saying only the courts can decide on his fate. Whether that is wise or not, one thing it does is avoid a debate that can go in favor of Estrada, at a time when he so desperately needs to know if he is still in public favor.

And that is precisely what is wrong with Estrada. He does not need to be told by anyone, be it the courts, the administration, or the people, that it is to the interest of everybody that he not foist himself again on the country.

Estrada has had his chance and he flubbed it. The nation cannot afford to hitch its fortunes on second chances, especially from discredited leaders. It is not up to anybody to tell Estrada he is no longer needed. He should tell that to himself.

But because this self-acknowledged drinker, gambler and womanizer, who has been convicted of plunder, has only his own self-interest in mind, he will keep on trying to recover not the responsibilities of the presidency but the power and privilege that come with it.