Supreme Court dismisses disqualification case vs Erap

MANILA, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) dismissed yesterday a petition filed by a lawyer seeking to disqualify former President Joseph Estrada from seeking the presidency in next year’s elections.

In a resolution, the SC junked the petition filed by lawyer Eligio Mallari of the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Inc. for being premature.

“The Court resolved to dismiss for failure to exhaust administrative remedies a petition seeking to disqualify former President Joseph Estrada from the 2010 presidential elections filed by the Vanguard of the Philippine Constitution, Inc.,” SC deputy spokesperson Gleo Guerra told reporters.

Mallari argued that Estrada is barred from running as president in the May 2010 elections under Article VII Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution.

The provision states: “The President and the Vice President shall be elected by direct vote of the people which shall begin for a term of six years at noon of the thirtieth day of June next following the day of the election and end at the noon on the same date six years after. The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”

“Thus, it does not matter whether the one seeking re-election is the immediate outgoing elected President or an elected President who had served as such by virtue of previous elections. The provision admits no other qualification,” the petitioner said.

Estrada’s term as president was cut short in 2001 after he was ousted through the EDSA People Power 2. He served as president for only two and a half years.

Estrada was subsequently detained and charged with plunder before the Sandiganbayan. In September 2007, the anti-graft court found him guilty of plunder and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

A month later, Estrada was pardoned by President Arroyo in line with the government’s policy of releasing prisoners who have reached the age of 70.

The petitioner also sought to invalidate the certificate of candidacy he filed on Nov. 30 from the records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Erap’s lawyers say petitions to disqualify him ‘defective’

The lawyers of Estrada said yesterday that the petitions to disqualify him in the 2010 presidential election are “defective and glaringly deficient.”

Estrada’s lawyers, led by University of the East College of Law Dean Amado Valdez, said the petitions to disqualify Estrada filed by Elly Pamatong, Evillio Formento and Mary Lou Estrada should be dismissed outright by the Comelec.

“To begin with, they all failed to comply with the requirement for a copy of the petition to be personally delivered to the respondent,” Valdez said.

“None contained a certified true copy of his (Estrada) certificate of candidacy (COC) as required by election laws, and there were violations of the notarial law as well,” Valdez added.

He said the petitioners also did not “adequately state the facts so as to meet the requirements for form and substance.”

Lawyer George Garcia, who is also representing Estrada in the Comelec, said they are finalizing the answers to all three petitions.

Garcia maintained their team’s position that Estrada is eminently qualified to seek the presidency next year.

“The constitutional ban on re-election applies only to the incumbent, certainly not to President Estrada who did not even serve the minimum of four years,” Garcia said.

Estrada’s camp said while being considered a controversial issue by some quarters, a number of respected constitutional experts including Manuel Lazaro, the current president of the Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa), have expressed their preference to allow the people to decide on the matter.

They cited a speech by Lazaro last Nov. 29 where he conceded that while Estrada’s candidacy had evoked clashing views on the correct interpretation of existing constitutional provisions, it was at heart a matter for the electorate to decide.

Pamatong asks Comelec to disqualify Villar, Noynoy, Teodoro

Meanwhile, independent presidential bet Elly Pamatong has asked the Comelec to disqualify his rivals Manuel Villar, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, and Gilbert Teodoro and vice presidential candidate Mar Roxas II for premature campaigning.

In a 25-page petition for disqualification, Pamatong said the candidates should not be allowed to run in the 2010 presidential race for engaging in “full-scale and massive worldwide presidential campaign blitzes before filing their certificates of candidacy.”

Pamatong noted that Villar, Aquino, Teodoro and Roxas have committed electioneering in between the period when the Comelec and the Supreme Court had issued decisions on premature campaigning on July 24, 2007 and Nov. 25, 2009, respectively.

In its 2007 ruling, the Comelec ruled that any political campaign before the Comelec-designated period was violative of the Omnibus Election Code. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo

The high tribunal, on the other hand, had decriminalized premature campaigning before the prescribed campaign period for the 2010 polls by reversing the disqualification of Sta. Monica, Surigao del Norte Mayor Rosalinda Penera.

Pamatong had also sought the disqualification Sen. Lito Lapid who is running for senator under Lakas-CMD-Kampi, and Manny Pacquiao who is seeking a congressional seat in Sarangani City.

“The real threat in the present election is the influx of unqualified professional entertainers (e.g. politically blind actors, actresses, sports and other celebrities) whose only asset is the support of their drooling fans,” he maintained. – With Jose Rodel Clapano, Sheila Crisostomo