As expected, the finale of the Estrada show is a presidential pardon from Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, only weeks after Joseph Estrada was found guilty of plunder. The pardon was granted after the popular ex-president reportedly agreed not to pursue any other elective office. Malacanang said the pardon was granted under a policy of releasing prisoners who have reached 70 years of age.
The pardon, undoubtedly one of the legal shockers of the decade, has met varied reactions from the public and politicians.
Internation Herald Tribune reports, Arroyo pardons former President Joseph Estrada:
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of the Philippines has pardoned former president Joseph Estrada, who was convicted last month of corruption charges, her spokesman said on Thursday.
The spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, said at a news conference that the executive clemency is in line with the government’s policy to release inmates who are aged 70 years and older.
Bunye said Arroyo had signed the presidential pardon taking into consideration that Estrada, who is 70 and was sentenced by an anti-graft court to a maximum of 40 years in prison for plunder, had already spent the past six and a half years under house arrest and that he had publicly pledged that he would “no longer seek any elective position or office.”
The pardon also restores Estrada’s civil and political rights, although the court’s orders that he forfeit a mansion and more than $15.5 million he allegedly stole while in office “remain in force and in full,” Bunye said.
In requesting for pardon, Estrada has accepted the legitimacy of the Arroyo presidency. ABS-CBN quotes Estrada lawyer Atty. Jose Flaminiano:
“No choice but to recognize the authority and power of the President Gloria Arroyo because she is the only one who can extend Presidential Clemency and there is that recognition of course that she is the legitimate President.”
Letter from Estrada’s defense panel requesting for pardon from Arroyo [read full text on ABS-CBN, click here]
Excerpt:
His ouster from the Presidency and to live with that humiliation for the rest of his life was a severe punishment in itself and may be equivalent to serving a long jail term. He deserves sympathy, compassion and understanding. He is now 70, had borne suffering with grace and dignity, despite not being the best of health always.
He often frets about the delicate condition of his mother. Her situation deteriorated when she learned what has befallen her son. Knowing he is a free man should be one of the last thoughts a recuerdoshe could carry when she goes to her final resting place, in total serenity.
In the highest national interest, to which President Estrada is always willing to subordinate his own, we appeal to Your Excellency to grant him full, free and unconditional pardon.
Congressman Rufus Rodriguez denies a sweetheart deal between Estrada and Arroyo:
“I believe these groups are putting their personal interests above those of the country’s and this is not the time for politics of personalities,” he said in a statement Thursday, before the pardon was announced. “We have to do what we can to unite our people, and we believe the grant of executive pardon to president Estrada will bring genuine peace and reconciliation to our country.”
Estrada tells Loi, “I’ll be home for lunch.” [ABS-CBN]
Former president Joseph Estrada told his wife, Dr. Luisa Ejercito, that he should be expected at their North Greenhills mansion in San Juan City by lunchtime Friday.
“I’ll be home for lunch (Friday),” Estrada’s wife, a former senator like himself, quoted him as saying, as she answered questions during a television interview Thursday night.
At the Estrada mansion on Polk Street in North Greenhills, maids were already busy with their clean-up in preparation for the former president’s arrival.
Estrada is expected to go to the city hall, where his political career first began, to thank his supporters and the people who supported him throughout his six-year trial. He will then drive to the local hospital to see his ailing 102-year-old mother at San Juan Medical Center.
Thousands of supporters are expected to turn out on the streets of suburban San Juan, Estrada’s home town, when he returns Friday, just six weeks after he was sentenced to life in prison for corruption on September 12, Agence France Presse reported hours after the pardon was announced. [read source]
Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III questioned the “undue haste” of Arroyo’s decision to grant pardon to Estrada.
“On a personal level, being President Estrada’s friend, I am glad that he is regaining his freedom, especially given his advanced age and his mother’s ailing condition, which he can now attend to,” Aquino said in a statement. [GMA News]
Senator Richard Gordon said the pardon would hurt the country’s image. He says:
“If we are going to show the world that we are for the rule of law, then there should be no pardon for Estrada.”
REACTIONS FROM SENATE
Sen. Escudero’s statement on Erap pardon [press release]:
Masaya ako para kay Pangulong Erap. Marapat lang at binabati ko ang dating Pangulo sa kalayaang muling makakamtan niya. Nawa’y makapiling niya ang kanyang ina habang nagpapagaling mula sa kanyang karamdaman.
Meanwhile, Escudero’s son, Rep. Salvador Escudero III has filed a bill seeking to peg at 70 years the retirement age for employees both in government and private sector.
News Roundup:
Puno: Pardon ‘unpopular with allies but right’ [Inquirer]
Bishop backs pardon for Estrada to hasten national healing [Inquirer]
“[Esrada's pardon]….will promote the nation’s healing and make way for a meaningful reconciliation among political factions,” Monsignor Rey Monsanto, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro, said.
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LOL.
nkaka tawa ang kinalabasan nito. i knew this was coming, kc pinag usapan na bago pa mahatulan si erap.
this is a clear mockery sa justice system ng bansa.
ginawang tele drama ang lahat. tanga tlga ng pinoy.