MANILA, Philippines -- Former president Joseph Estrada has announced his decision to run again ?if the opposition would not unite.?

Estrada made this declaration in a television interview Wednesday when asked whether he would run in 2010, saying this will be his ?last option.?

?If the opposition does not unite, I will run. That?s my last option. If they don?t unite, I will run,? said Estrada who was ousted in a popular revolt in 2001 and replaced by his then vice president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

At the same time, Estrada denied that he had a hand in the ouster of Senator Manuel Villar as Senate president.

Estrada was convicted of plunder last year but was pardoned by Arroyo months later.