SC junks disqualification case vs Mayor Estrada by 11-3 vote

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada. INQUIRER file photo

MANILA, Philippines–Former President Joseph Estrada is staying on as mayor of Manila.

Voting 11-3, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the disqualification case filed against Estrada, saying the pardon granted by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo a month after his conviction for plunder in 2007 restored his civil and political rights.

“The majority characterized the pardon extended by Mrs. Arroyo to Mr. Estrada as absolute, thereby restoring Mr. Estrada’s qualifications to stand as candidate in the last mayoral elections,” Theodore Te, the court’s spokesman, said in a press briefing Wednesday.

“Likewise, Mr. Estrada’s acceptance of the absolute pardon removed the disqualifications arising under section 40 of the Local Government Code in relation to Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code,” said Te, who read a summary of the ruling as the full decision had yet to be released.

The decision upheld Estrada’s contention that the pardon Arroyo granted him restored his “full civil and political rights, including the right to seek public elective office.”

Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, is under hospital detention while facing plunder charges in connection with alleged misuse of intelligence funds from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

The court ruling likewise sustained the Commission on Election’s rejection of the disqualification case in April 2013, shortly before the midterm polls. This decision prompted lawyer Alicia Risos-Vidal to elevate her petition to the Supreme Court. Defeated Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim joined Vidal as intervenor in her suit.

The ruling was penned by Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, formerly Sandiganbayan presiding justice and also head of the antigraft court’s special division that tried and convicted Estrada of plunder in 2007.

Among those who voted in favor of dismissing the petition was Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, also among the Sandiganbayan magistrates who rendered the guilty verdict on Estrada.

Others who concurred were Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr., Arturo Brion, Lucas Bersamin, Mariano del Castillo, Martin Villarama Jr., Jose Perez, Jose Mendoza, Bienvenido Reyes, and Estela Perlas-Bernabe.

The three who dissented were Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, Associate Justice Marvic Leonen and Associate Justice Antonio Carpio who, before his time in the high court, was among the complainants in the plunder case that led to Estrada’s 2007 plunder conviction.

Associate Justice Francis Jardeleza had no part in the ruling “due to his previous participation [in the case] as Solicitor General,” Te said.

Estrada, who was ousted in 2001 midway through his presidency, faced a similar disqualification case in 2010, when he ran for President, placing second. He made a successful comeback in 2013 when he won as Manila mayor.

Te said the petitioners may seek a reconsideration of the ruling, as a standard recourse.

Asked to comment, Vidal said she would first take a look at the ruling before deciding on the course of action.

“[I] will review the decision and if all the issues I raised were passed upon, I will not file any motion for reconsideration,” she said in a text message.

In her petition, Vidal asserted that Estrada had lost his right to seek public office after he was convicted of plunder and meted life imprisonment for the offense.