SC orders Estrada, Comelec to answer disqualification plea

Joseph Estrada. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Supreme Court ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and former President and now Manila Mayor-elect Joseph Estrada to respond to a petition that sought to block his bid to join the mayoral race.

High court information chief Theodore Te said both Estrada and the Comelec were given 10 days to respond to the petition of lawyer Alicia Risos-Vidal.

Vidal went to the Supreme Court questioning the decision of the Comelec that dismissed with finality her disqualification complaint against the former president.

In her petition, she insisted that Estrada’s conviction for plunder rendered him not qualified to run for public office.

The Comelec denied Risos-Vidal’s bid saying they already ruled on the same issue when they allowed Estrada to seek the presidency again in 2010.