Manila: The Supreme Court rejected a petition seeking the nullification of Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada’s 2013 candidacy, putting to rest questions over the legitimacy of his election victory.
In an overwhelming vote of 11 for, and three dissenting, the Supreme Court rejected appeals put forward by former Manila mayor Alfredo Lim and lawyer Alicia Risos-Vidal questioning the constitutional basis for Estrada’s 2013 candidacy, Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te said in briefing aired over government-run television station.
The petitions argued that Estrada, 77, should not have been allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to seek another political seat after having been convicted for plunder.
Estrada was elected President in 1998, only to be ousted by an uprising in Metro Manila in 2001.
He was put on trial by the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan and was sentenced to life imprisonment for committing “plunder” and other offences. In September 2008, then President Gloria Macapagal granted absolute pardon to Estrada.
“This absolute pardon order now allows Estrada to hold positions in government,” Te said.
Comelec chair Sixto Brilliantes in an interview by the ANC cable news channel, said the decision rejecting Lim and Risos-Vidal’s appeal questioning the legitimacy of Estrada’s 2013 candidacy for Manila mayor, had been expected.
“The dispositive portion says that Estrada’s political rights, which includes the right to suffrage, right to run for public office is supposed to be restored is very clear,” he said.
Nevertheless, Brilliantes said the decision should not be used as precedent for other similar cases.
He advised Presidents to be clear on the provisions of the pardons they issue in the event that similar cases would crop up in the future.
Estrada said he had been elated with the decision of the Supreme Court.
His son, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, said the ruling had settled a nagging question over the legitimacy of his father’s election as Manila chief executive.
“The decision ... is a triumph of the will of the Filipino masses especially the electorate of the City of Manila to choose their rightful leader. We know that this petition filed against my father by a losing opponent was merely a ploy to derail his plans of transforming Manila into a dynamic and progressive metropolis, which my father is now doing.”
“I hope that the recent decision of the highest court of the land puts to final rest all questions and uncertainties over the pardon given to my father President Mayor Joseph Estrada and his eligibility to run for public office,” according to Jinggoy.
