Manila court: Estrada can run

former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada

With two of three legal obstacles cleared from his path, it looks like former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada—who was convicted of plunder and granted executive clemency in 2007—can continue mapping out his campaign strategy for his bid for Manila mayor.

Estrada lawyer Frank Chavez told the Inquirer yesterday that Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 20 had dismissed the disqualification case filed by two of the city’s registered voters for lack of basis.

The information was confirmed by a staffer from the judge’s office who said that the resolution was dated Feb. 19.

According to Chavez, Umali said the case filed by Romeo de Leon and Mariel Limueco in December “has no basis [while the] persons who filed the case have no legal standing.”

“With this decision, there should be no more questions as to whether or not former President Estrada can run for mayor in Manila,” Chavez added.

De Leon and Limueco had asked the court to determine whether or not Estrada was qualified to seek the mayoralty, saying that should he be disqualified, the votes cast in his favor would subsequently be declared null and void.

“The question is whether the pardon is conditional or unconditional. If the pardon is conditional, the petitioners’ votes for [Estrada] will be in clear and present danger of being rendered meaningless or useless,” they said in their petition.

This was also the gist of another petition filed by two private lawyers who asked the Sandiganbayan to clarify if Estrada’s decision to seek public office was a violation of one of the conditions set in the presidential pardon granted to him. The petition was dismissed by the court in December, leaving just one case for Estrada’s disqualification, this time in the Commission on Elections.