MANILA, Philippines?Deposed president Joseph Estrada has reiterated his intention to again seek the presidency in 2010 if the leaders of the opposition fail to unite and field a single standard-bearer.

Estrada, who was convicted of plunder last year, insisted that he could still run for the post he lost in 2001 because his civil and political rights were ?fully restored? when President Macapagal-Arroyo pardoned him.

?If the opposition will not unite, that will be my last option?I might run,? he told reporters at a Christmas party on Friday night hosted by his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

?I will unify the people,? he said.

Estrada said it was possible he would pick Sen. Loren Legarda as his running mate ?if I run.?

He said Legarda had sufficient experience to be ?a good vice president.?

?She has brains and beauty,? he said adding that his bosom friend, the late opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr., chose Legarda as running mate in 2004 because of her popularity and political experience.

(Poe and Legarda lost to President Macapagal-Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro in that election.)

Estrada also said the entire country, and not just the opposition, was highly polarized.

?I don?t believe in [political] parties,? he said. ?I told the people they should not believe in parties because these are only good during elections. After the elections, [party members] will divide the [loot] among themselves, and the people are left out.?

Estrada acknowledged the big number of presidential hopefuls in the opposition.

Late in ?09

Asked when he would make up his mind on whether to gun for the presidency again, he said: ?Maybe the last quarter of next year.?

Estrada observed that ?all the candidates are going around the country feeling the pulse of the people.?

He said the ideal setup was for Senators Legarda, Manuel Villar and Panfilo Lacson, known contenders for the No. 1 post, to choose among themselves who should become the opposition standard-bearer.

?If they?re not rating [in the surveys] as No. 1 and 2, that?s a waste of money, time and effort. They have to slide down to vice president,? he said, adding:

?The most ideal is for the No. 1 and No. 2 [in the surveys to run for president] and for the No. 3 and No. 4 to slide down.?

Estrada also said even Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, who declared his interest in the presidency last month, could also choose to run for vice president.

On the other hand, everything is fluid at this point because surveys on presidential preferences are not so reliable at this stage, Estrada said.

?It?s too early ? The election is one-and-a-half years from now,? he pointed out.

Told that Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez had said that he should not participate in politics anymore, Estrada said: ?E wala namang alam (He doesn?t know anything).?

Early last week, Legarda said she was thinking of running for president.

Continuing Poe?s fight

Although she stopped short of declaring her run, she talked about her ?passion and compassion for good management and honest governance,? and ?continuing the fight? begun by Poe.

?If and when I declare I am running for president,? Legarda told the Inquirer in an interview at her office in the Senate, ?it will be based on a platform and vision for our country?a vision of good governance, sustainable development, transparency and accountability to the people.?

She added: ?It is this passion and compassion that will eventually drive me to run for the highest post if and when I so decide and I so declare. And I will make such a decision at the proper time.?

Sen. Francis Escudero is being bruited about as among the contenders for the No. 1 or No. 2 post

An Escudero-Legarda or Legarda-Escudero ticket was suggested during the Christmas party of the Nationalist People?s Coalition (NPC) at the Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City on Monday.

On tangling with other aspirants for the presidency, Legarda said: ?I can take on anyone. In the end, I only compete with myself, not with other people.?

She said Poe supporters wanted her to ?continue the fight.?

?We waged a difficult but victorious campaign in 2004, but we were cheated with the use of government resources and massive fraud,? Legarda said.

?And after FPJ (Poe) died in December 2004, I continued the fight single-handedly for three years in the Supreme Court until I ran for senator in 2007,? she said.

Possibilities

A noncommissioned Pulse Asia survey on presidential preferences conducted on Oct. 14-27 showed that if Estrada decided not to run, Legarda was at 21 percent, De Castro and Villar at 20 percent each, and Escudero at 17 percent.

If both Estrada and Escudero would not run, Legarda would win over De Castro, Villar and Sen. Mar Roxas, according to the survey.

Legarda?s margin of victory would grow exponentially if Lacson chose not to seek the presidency: She got 37 percent compared to De Castro and Villar?s 29 percent.

In short, only a united opposition would seal a Legarda victory at the polls.

A Legarda-Escudero tandem will go neck by neck with a possible Villar-De Castro ticket?both at 28 percent?if the May 2010 presidential election was held during the survey period.

An Escudero-Legarda ticket got 20 percent, while a tandem of Roxas and Sen. Francis Pangilinan got 10 percent.

Besides Legarda and Escudero, the NPC has 28 congressmen and hundreds of local officials from governors down to mayors.

However, Legarda did not rule out a coalition with other parties.

?The party is strong in itself, but coalitions are usually [forged] during elections,? she said.