Filipinos Welcome Estrada Pardon, Maintain

Reservations about Arroyo

by Jesusa Bernardo
(First published at Newsvine, 30 October 2007
Updated 14 August 2008 HKT)

Majority of Filipinos welcomed the long-awaited release of ex-President Joseph "Erap"

Estrada following the executive clemency extended to the former leader accused of
politically motivated trumped-up charges. The Estrada pardon was given after the
charismatic leader was convicted of plunder charges by a 'kangaroo' court division of an
anti-graft body specially created to try the former President following the conspiracy-led
EDSA 2 uprising that unseated him in 2001.

The pardon was given by current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after the six-year
trial ended in a guilty verdict during a heavily-censored promulgation in September 2007.
During the media coverage of the promulgation, the authorities made sure that the public
would not see the dramatic moment when Estrada, who remains heavily popular with the
Filipinos masses, received the "guilty" verdict.

Never Guilty

Earlier, a nationwide survey showed that an overwhelming majority of Filipinos believe

Estrada is innocent of the Plunder charges and that they expected him to be released. The
same survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) also revealed the sentiment
of the Filipinos that in case he be declared guilty, Estrada should be pardoned. According
to the survey 62% of Filipinos do not believe "Erap" Estrada enriched himself nor
committed corruption while he was President; a total of 84% think he should be pardoned
if convicted. The SWS, the most active social survey institute in the country, conducted
the survey just before the promulgation of the Sandiganbayan decision declaring Estrada
guilty of the charges.
Supporters of the former Philippine leader were delighted to see him free again but bore
reservations about the nature of the pardon and the administration of Arroyo. Estrada and
the opposition have for a long time maintained the illegitimacy of Arroyo's administration
after the constitutionally questionable decision by the Supreme Court that declared the
position of President vacant and Arroyo as the successor. In 2004, Macapagal-Arroyo
'won' in the presidential elections heavily tainted with allegations of electoral fraud. In
legal terms, Estrada's acceptance of the executive clemency connotes recognition of the
authority of Arroyo. According to Estrada's followers, they want him free but they still
consider Arroyo's administration as illegitimate.

Filipinos generally believe that Estrada, a former actor who rose from being a mayor,
senator and Vice-President before becoming President with the highest plurality vote in
Philippine history, is not guilty of any of the charges. Before his arrest and detention,
Estrada declined two offers made by the administration of Macapagal-Arroyo for him to
live in voluntary exile in exchange for waiving criminal prosecution.

Estrada won as the Philippine's 13th President by a landslide election in 1998 but was
unable to finish term after a corrupt governor accused him of pocketing jutting kickbacks.
The accusations mothballed into the so-called EDSA 2 rebellion backed by the Army's
chief-of-staff. Majority of Filipinos believe that Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos and
then Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, led the conspiracy that used the kickback
issue as a propaganda ploy to bring Estrada into public disfavor.

Objective political analysts suspect that Ramos sought to depose Estrada to avoid
prosecution for the scandalous deals his administration entered into. Ramos was named in
several multi-million dollar corruption exposes during his term, including the infamous
Clark Centennial Exposition project and the PEA-AMARI Manila Bay Reclamation deal,
dubbed to be the "grandmother of all scams." Estrada, who assumed office with bankrupt
national treasury funds, had threatened to investigate Ramos' complicity in the scams.

The 2001 EDSA 2 rebellion against the defamed former President acquired the backing
of certain business leaders who were disadvantaged by Estrada's pro-poor policies. The
Catholic Church led by the powerful Jaime Cardinal Sin also played a part in Estrada's
unseating. The politically meddling Cardinal Sin saw a Catholic ally in the successor,
Macapagal Arroyo. Despite numerous and persistent allegations of corruption and
electoral fraud against the new administration, the Catholic Church continued to support
Arroyo, who indeed proved to be a faithful supporter of the Church's positions on various
social issues including family planning and the death penalty.

_________________________

Reference:

Social Weather Survey: September 2-5, 2007 Social Weather Survey: Majority Expected
Erap To Be Acquitted. Social Weather Stations. http://www.sws.org.ph/pr070912.htm