POLITICAL LAW REVIEW

Title: Estrada vs. Desierto

Puno, J:
Facts: On October 4 2000, Singson went on air and
accused Estrada of receiving millions of pesos from jueteng
lords. the next da, !uingona delivered a privileged speech
accusing Estrada of the same. "he speech was referred to
the #lue $ibbon %ommittee and the %ommittee on &ustice
for a joint investigation. "he 'ouse %ommittee on (ublic
Order and Securit also decided to investigate. Some
$epresentatives moved to impeach Estrada. %alls for
resignation came from various individuals and
organi)ations, including the %atholic %hurch, (res. *+uino
and (res. $amos. *rroo resigned as Secretar of ,S-,
and as.ed for Estrada/s resignation. Several heads and
members of the Executive ,epartment resigned from their
positions as well. 'ouse Spea.er 0illar transmitted the
*rticles of 1mpeachment 2signed b 334 $eps5 to the
Senate. "he latter formall opened the impeachment trial. 1t
was covered b live "0. E+uitable (%1#an. Senior 0(
Ocampo, as witness, testified that she was one foot awa
from Estrada when he affixed his signature as 6&ose
0elarde7 on documents involving (4008 investment
agreement. * second envelope was supposed to be opened
showing that Estrada held a (9.98 ban. account under the
name of &ose 0elarde. #ut the senator:judges 233 no; 30
es5 ruled otherwise. *s a result, the public prosecutors
resigned and thousands assembled in E,S* and rallied
against Estrada and the 33 Senators who voted against the
opening of the 2
nd
envelope. $ees, the %hief of Staff of the
*rmed <orces had defected. 'e, together with the chiefs of
all the armed services went to E,S*. $ees declared that
on behalf of the *rmed <orces, the are withdrawing their
support from Estrada/s administration. On &anuar 20,
2003, first round of negotiations for the peaceful and
orderl transfer of power started. while still negotiating,
news bro.e out that ,avide would administer oath to *rroo
at noon. Estrada and his famil left 8alacanang. 'e issued
the following statement=
>20 &anuar 2003
S"*"E8E?" <$O8
($ES1,E?" &OSE(' E&E$%1"O ES"$*,*
*t twelve o@cloc. noon toda, 0ice (resident !loria 8acapagal:
*rroo too. her oath as (resident of the $epublic of the
(hilippines. -hile along with man other legal minds of our
countr, 1 have strong and serious doubts about the legalit and
constitutionalit of her proclamation as (resident, 1 do not wish to
be a factor that will prevent the restoration of unit and order in
our civil societ.
1t is for this reason that 1 now leave 8alacaAang (alace, the seat
of the presidenc of this countr, for the sa.e of peace and in
order to begin the healing process of our nation. 1 leave the
(alace of our people with gratitude for the opportunities given to
me for service to our people. 1 will not shir. from an future
challenges that ma come ahead in the same service of our
countr.
1 call on all m supporters and followers to join me in to
promotion of a constructive national spirit of reconciliation and
solidarit.
8a the *lmight bless our countr and beloved people.
8*#B'*CD
2Sgd.5 &OSE(' E&E$%1"O ES"$*,*>
* cop of the letter was sent to %ongress. *fter ta.ing
oath, *rroo immediatel discharged the duties of the
(residenc. 'er presidenc was recogni)ed b foreign
governments, b the %ongress and b the people. "he
Senate passed a resolution declaring the impeachment
court as functus officio. Several cases 2plunder, graft and
corruption, briber, perjur, serious misconduct, among
others5 filed b various parties in the Office of the
Ombusman were set in motion. Estrada filed a petition for
prohibition with a praer for a writ of preliminar injunction
to enjoin the Ombudsman from conducting further
proceedings until after his term. 'e also filed for Euo
-arranto and praed that he be declared the lawful and
incumbent (resident and that *rroo too. her oath onl in
an acting capacit.
Issues:
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POLITICAL LAW REVIEW
235-hether Estrada is onl on leave and *rroo is onl an
*cting (res.
'eld= there must be an intent to resign and the intent must
be coupled b acts of relin+uishment.
HI
"he validit of a
resignation is not government b an formal re+uirement as
to form. 1t can be oral. 1t can be written. 1t can be express.
1t can be implied. *s long as the resignation is clear, it must
be given legal effect. whether or not petitioner resigned has
to be determined from his act and omissions before, during
and after &anuar 20, 2003 or b the totalit of prior,
contemporaneous and posterior facts and circumstantial
evidence bearing a material relevance on the issue.
Bsing this totalit test, we hold that petitioner resigned as
(resident.
* diar of Exec. Sec. *ngara was published in the (hilippine
,ail 1n+uirer revealing Estrada/s staments and state of
mind.
a. -hen $ees defected= Estrada decided to call for a
snap presidential election and stressed he would not
be a candidate. "he proposal for a snap election for
president in 8a where he would not be a candidate
is an indicium that petitioner had intended to give up
the presidenc even at that time.
b. *ngara as.ed (imentel to advise petitioner to
consider the option of >dignified exit or
resignation.>
I3
(etitioner did not disagree but
listened intentl. 'e did not express an objection.
c. "he problem was alread about a peaceful and
orderl transfer of power. "he resignation of the
petitioner was implied.
d. he just wants the five:da period promised b $ees,
as well as to open the second envelope to clear his
name.
e. 1f the envelope is opened, on 8onda, he sas, he
will leave b 8onda.
f. "he (resident sas. >(agod na pagod na a.o. *o.o
na masado nang masa.it. (agod na a.o sa red
tape, bureaucrac, intriga. 1 just want to clear m
name, then 1 will go.
1n sum, we hold that the resignation of the petitioner
cannot be doubted. 1t was confirmed b his leaving
8alacaAang. 1n the press release containing his final
statement, 235 he ac.nowledged the oath:ta.ing of the
respondent as (resident of the $epublic albeit with
reservation about its legalit; 225 he emphasi)ed he was
leaving the (alace, the seat of the presidenc, for the
sa.e of peace and in order to begin the healing process
of our nation. 'e did not sa he was leaving the (alace
due to an .ind inabilit and that he was going to re:
assume the presidenc as soon as the disabilit
disappears= 295 he expressed his gratitude to the people
for the opportunit to serve them. -ithout doubt, he
was referring to the past opportunit given him to serve
the people as (resident 245 he assured that he will not
shir. from an future challenge that ma come ahead in
the same service of our countr. (etitioner@s reference is
to a future challenge after occuping the office of the
president which he has given up; and 245 he called on
his supporters to join him in the promotion of a
constructive national spirit of reconciliation and
solidarit. %ertainl, the national spirit of reconciliation
and solidarit could not be attained if he did not give up
the presidenc. "he press release was petitioner@s
valedictor, his final act of farewell. 'is presidenc is
now in the part tense.
(etitioner contended that he could not have resigned as a
matter of law. $.*. ?o. 903J provides in its Sec. 32. ?o
public officer shall be allowed to resign or retire pending an
investigation, criminals or administrative, or pending a
prosecution against him, for an offense under this *ct or
under the provisions of the $evised (enal %ode on briber.
1t is to prevent the act of resignation or retirement from
being used b a public official as a protective shield to stop
the investigation of a pending criminal or administrative
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POLITICAL LAW REVIEW
case against him and to prevent his prosecution under the
*nti:!raft Gaw or prosecution for briber under the $evised
(enal %ode. it does not appl to him. *lso, -hile these
cases have been filed, the respondent Ombudsman
refrained from conducting the preliminar investigation of
the petitioner for the reason that as the sitting (resident
then, petitioner was immune from suit. "echnicall, the said
cases cannot be considered as pending for the Ombudsman
lac.ed jurisdiction to act on them. Section 32 of $* ?o.
903J cannot therefore be invo.ed b the petitioner for it
contemplates of cases whose investigation or prosecution do
not suffer from an insuperable legal obstacle li.e the
immunit from suit of a sitting (resident.
225 -hether or not the petitioner is onl temporaril unable
to *ct as (resident.
"he 'ouse of $epresentatives alread declared *rroo to be
the (resident and !uingona as the 0ice (resident. "he
Senate confirmed the same as well. 1t also declared the
impeachment court functus officio. #oth houses started
sending bills to *rroo as (resident. #oth houses recogni)ed
the new administration. 1t is clear that the inabilit of
Estrada is no longer temporar.
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