MANILA, Philippines?Was it a case of conflicting schedules or a snub?

Explaining his absence at an Inquirer-sponsored debate of presidential candidates at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, deposed President Joseph ?Erap? Estrada said he had to meet a delegation of political leaders from Mindanao Monday morning.

Present were Senators Benigno Aquino III, Manuel Villar, Richard Gordon and Maria Ana Consuelo ?Jamby? Madrigal, evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva, environmentalist Nicanor Perlas and Councilor JC de los Reyes.

Estrada said he wanted to attend the UP forum but had to receive the delegation composed of more than 100 political leaders from Lanao del Sur and Cotabato.

But his handlers had a different reason for Estrada?s nonappearance.

?Biased against Erap?

Margaux Salcedo, Estrada?s spokesperson, said in a statement: ?The executive committee of the campaign felt that Inquirer is always biased against Erap, that it would work more harm than good to attend, and advised President Erap not to go.?

Salcedo, who is also an Inquirer contributor, said her boss did not attend upon the advice of his campaign managers.

Former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, Estrada?s chief campaigner, complained that media outlets, like the Inquirer and ANC, highlighted only the absence of the ex-president in debates.

?Forums only upset the campaign schedule,? Maceda said on Sunday.

?Closer to Inquirer?

Asked Monday whether he was holding a grudge against the Inquirer that prevented him from attending the event, Estrada said in Filipino: ?There?s none. In fact, I really want to be closer to the Inquirer.?

Estrada, who is seeking to return to Malacañang following his ouster by a ?people power? uprising in 2001, said he had to keep his appointment with the Mindanao group.

?If I didn?t meet them, they?d stay for one more day and I?d have to spend for their hotel and food. That would have been expensive,? he said with a laugh.

Moreover, Estrada said he had already attended several presidential forums and wanted to concentrate on raising his rating in election surveys by meeting voters in his campaign sorties.

?I have to catch up,? said Estrada, who has ranked third in the surveys, after Aquino and Villar.

On the eve of the presidential debate, Estrada himself told the Inquirer in Filipino: ?I have another appointment. I?m just wasting my time in those forums because others are not attending anyway.?

The ousted president had just attended another forum organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting at Miriam College. His rivals?Villar, Aquino and former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro?did not appear.

Propoor platform

By not showing up at the Inquirer debate, Estrada did not exactly elude a bashing, with Sen. Richard Gordon, another presidential aspirant, questioning the sincerity of his pro-poor platform.

Gordon lashed out at Estrada, who was convicted of plunder and later pardoned, and asked whether the former president should be allowed to join the May 10 presidential derby.

Voting for someone like Estrada will be a ?measure of the political maturity in our country,? he said.

?Until the Supreme Court says otherwise, he can run, but in my opinion, it?s the people that will judge,? Gordon said in Filipino.

A question of values

?But what about our values? Is it all right for us that a convict, after being pardoned by the President, is now facing us? It?s up to you,? Gordon said.

The senator also took a swipe at Estrada?s campaign that hinges on his promise to uplift the lives of the poor.

?If you say you?re poor, you show it,? Gordon said. ?Erap says that he?s for the poor, but when he was up there (in Malacañang), we became poorer ? There?s always been exploitation of the poor ? but when (the candidate) assumes office, the poor are forgotten.?

He added: ?You have to face the facts. If your leader would not face accountability, he should not be elected.?

Estrada said his party, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, would launch its campaign on Tuesday at Plaza Miranda in Manila.

He and his running mate, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, will motor to northern Luzon in the first phase of the campaign.