Supreme Court forgives defiant Joseph Estrada lawyer

The Supreme Court has forgiven the lawyer of deposed President Joseph Estrada, Alan F. Paguia, who was suspended eight years ago for accusing some justices of the court of politicking during the 2001 Edsa Dos revolt.

The high court lifted Paguia’s suspension “effectively immediately,” allowing him to resume his law practice.

“Considering Atty. Paguia’s compliance with the Court’s requirements and his declaration that the suspension has strengthened his belief in the Filipino people, the Rule of Law, due process and equal protection and in the Supreme Court as the final dispenser of justice and God as the ultimate source of justice, the Court has decided to lift his suspension which as been in force for the last eight years,” stated a three-page en banc decision dated Oct. 11 and signed by clerk of court Enriqueta Vidal.

Paguia was indefinitely suspended from law practice in 2003 for “conduct unbecoming a lawyer and an officer of the court” as well as his “obstinate display of defiance.”

Paguia accused then Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. and other associate justices of engaging in politics when they participated in the 2001 “Edsa Dos” popular uprising that deposed Estrada and elevated then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency.

The lawyer made the accusations during the litigation by the Sandiganbayan of Estrada’s plunder case, which ended in 2007 with the conviction of the former president. Estrada was sentenced to life imprisonment but was later pardoned by Arroyo.