MANILA, Philippines -- Former president Joseph Estrada again hinted that he might run in the 2010 elections if the opposition fails to field a single candidate for president and if people “clamor” for him.

"I would like to unite the opposition to ensure the victory of the opposition. But the concern is, if they don't do as I envision, who am I to refuse the people if they clamor?" Estrada said in an interview on GMA 7 television late Sunday evening.

Estrada was pardoned President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and released from detention in October 2007, a month after an anti-graft court convicted him of plunder.

Arroyo, Estrada’s vice president, succeeded him after he was ousted by a military-backed popular revolt in January 2001 on allegations he pocketed millions of pesos in kickbacks from the illegal numbers game "jueteng."

Recalling his conversation with his family after he was ousted, Estrada said: "I told them, ‘This is not the end of the world, wag kayong mag-alala [don't worry]. Someday, I will be vindicated’."

Estrada said he asked his wife, former senator Luisa "Loi" Ejercito, and his son, Senator Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, to run for the Senate in 2001 and 2004, respectively, to gauge the public's support for him.

The former leader said the election victories of his wife and son proved that "even if I'm incarcerated, I still have the support of the people."

Maintaining his innocence, Estrada said: "If ever I made a mistake, corruption is never one of them. That, I can tell you eye-to-eye."