Former President Estrada Announces Bid to Run Again

Tondo Manila, Philippines. October 21, 2009

Deposed former president Joseph Estrada announces his bid to run as president in the 2010 elections amidst a crowd of an estimated 10, 000 supporters. This move ended the never-ending speculations about his plans for 2010---whether to support an opposition candidate and who to support. In an unprecedented but not totally unexpected action, he declared himself one among the many in the presidential race.

He chose Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as his running mate because he hopes that the future vice-president can help turn the Philippines into an ideal city similar to Makati. He also has a senatorial lineup composed of: Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Ilocos Norte Gov. Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., ZTE scandal whistle-blower Joey de Venecia, Danny Lim, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago as guest candidate.

Joseph EstradaJoseph Estrada has always been popular with the masses. A former movie star, he served first as San Juan City (then suburb) mayor consecutively for 17 years starting in the year 1969. Afterwards, he was elected as senator in 1987, and then as vice president in 1992. In 1998, he was elected as the 13th President of the Philippine republic. In this election, he won by the greatest margin ever won by a Philippine president in a multiparty electoral system when he garnered 38% of the total votes. Amidst rumors of corruption scandals, he was later ousted in 2001 by People Power II led by his then vice-president and now incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Tried and convicted after a period of 6 years for charges of plunder, Estrada now enjoys pardon granted to him by President Arroyo. Despite claims that he cannot run again for president because the said pardon prohibits him from doing so, Estrada maintains that the pardon restored to him all his civil and political rights. Thus he says that “If I can vote, I can be voted.”

Asked for the reason of his joining the presidential race, the former president consistently invokes the masses will for him to run again. He cited the recent Social Weather Station (SWS) survey as testimony for his viability to run. In the surveys, he consistently ranked among the top four presidential candidates whether be it in the single or multiple choice surveys. Also, he states that he wants power to be given back to the masses as opposed to the elitist government that he says we have today.

Another legal impediment for his bid to become president comes from the Constitution itself. In Article 7 Section 4, it asserts that “The President shall not be eligible for any re-election.” However, as most laws, it is subjects to various interpretations. According to Ernesto Maceda, a former senator, the term ‘president’ only applies to the incumbent. Thus Estrada, in his interpretation, can run again. It is countered by Ateneo Law School Professor Carlos Medina who maintains that the term ‘president’ refers to all who has been president.

In addition to this, Maceda holds that Estrada is not running for re-election in the first place. Instead, it will merely be a continuation of his previous post. This is opposed to Medina’s interpretation wherein he cites the term ‘any’ before the word re-election. This would mean that an elected Philippine President cannot serve again for any post whatsoever be it a baranggay chairman or otherwise.

Despite these interpretations by various parties, the legality of the candidacy of Joseph Estrada can only be determined by the Supreme Court. This will be determined after Estrada has formally filed his candidacy papers on November.