ILOILO CITY??Is he someone that our children should emulate??

This was among the reactions of some parents of a graduating class of a private university here on the selection of ousted president Joseph Estrada as the school?s speaker for this year?s commencement exercises.

Estrada, who was ousted in a popular uprising in January 2001 and convicted by the Sandiganbayan of plunder in September last year over corruption cases before he was granted executive clemency by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was the guest speaker during the 61st commencement exercises of the University of Iloilo (UI) last Friday.

The university, owned by the Lopez family, is among the biggest and oldest schools in Iloilo City with around 12,000 students.

A mother of a nursing graduate said Estrada ?is not a good example for young people.? She asked not to be identified because she is avoiding any conflict with school officials.

?I told my daughter I was not excited when I learned that Erap (Estrada?s nickname) would be their guest speaker,? she told the Philippine Daily Inquirer outside the multi-purpose gymnasium of the Iloilo Sports Complex in La Paz District here where the rites were held.

She sat outside the gymnasium during the entire program. ?It?s so hot inside and I?m not really excited to hear him.?

Another parent, a mother of a Criminology graduate, said she would have preferred another speaker because she disapproved of Estrada?s ?record,? referring to his conviction over corruption charges and his reputation as a womanizer, having sired children with several women.

?They (school officials) should have selected a distinguished alumni or a former student that has become successful to show the students what they could and should be,? she said. The parent was also seated outside the gymnasium while the program was ongoing.

She said her daughter and her friends even laughed when they learned that Estrada would be their speaker because they found it ridiculous.

The mother said they had no choice because it was the school that selected the speaker for commencement exercises.

But the school president, former Iloilo Rep. Alberto ?Albertito? Lopez, defended Estrada?s selection as graduation speaker.

?We want to hear his views [because] former President Estrada is a political force to reckon with,? Lopez told the Inquirer newspaper, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

He also pointed to Estrada?s popularity citing his winning margin in the 1998 elections.

Lopez said there was nothing wrong with inviting Estrada as their guest speaker because ?all his civil and political rights were restored? when he was granted clemency.

Estrada also defended his being invited to the graduation ceremonies. He said he has been a friend of Lopez since he was mayor of San Juan.

His daughter Jackie is married to Manolo ?Beaver? Lopez Jr. who is a nephew of Albertito Lopez. Albertito and Manolo?s father are first cousins.

But some parents did not mind.

A father of an Accounting graduate said it was the school?s prerogative whom to invite as speaker.

?What?s wrong with Estrada as speaker? All presidents stole from our country. (Arroyo) is much worse,? said a mother of a graduate.

Despite the controversy, Estrada was visibly pleased with his first visit to Iloilo since he was deposed from power.

He gamely shook hands and posed for pictures with supporters and journalists.

In his 20-minute speech delivered before around 4,000 students and their families at the graduation rites, he thanked them for listening to his ?good-looking English.?

He also thanked the Lopezes and school officials for inviting ?an ex-detainee and ex-convict? as speaker.

Like the graduating students, Estrada said he also just recently ?graduated from six years and six months of detention.?

?I?m happy to be an ex-convict closed to the people rather than a president isolated in Malacañang,? he said in one of his many swipes against the Arroyo administration.

While saying that he was not campaigning and just speaking as ?Citizen Erap,? Estrada enumerated his programs on peace and order, economy and poverty-alleviation.

Calling on the graduates to be ?social activists for reform,? Estrada said he was replaced by a ?corrupt? administration that ?refuses to be accountable and transparent to its people.?

The Arroyo administration is also ?insensitive to condition and plight of majority of the people? and ?isolated from the people by a web of lies,? according to Estrada.

But a parent could not help commenting on hearing the ousted president speak about good values and good governance.

?Look who?s talking,? the parent said.

In Goa, Camarines Sur on Sunday, Estrada, speaking before 500 graduates of the Partido State University, said he himself felt the same happiness as that of the new graduates when he ?graduated from detention after six years of forced and painful enrolment in various state institutions like Camp Crame, Veterans Memorial, and my own beloved alma mater, the Tanay university.?

The audience laughed at Estrada?s introduction but the rest of his speech mostly took swipes against the Arroyo administration.

He encouraged the audience to continue to be vigilant. With a report from Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon