03/17/2010
BALAYAN, Batangas —Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada, reacting to Liberal Party (LP) bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s comment that he is against Estrada having been pardoned by President Arroyo, yesterday twitted him, saying that he had nothing to do with the absolute pardon granted to him.
“He (Aquino) should be told that I did not ask, nor did I seek the pardon. She (Arroyo) could have had an attack of conscience as she may have realized that there was a miscarriage of justice (in granting that pardon). After all, there really was no proof that I stole a single centavo of government money,” Estrada said in an interview at the municipal hall here.
“I really don’t understand why he attacked me. I have not attacked him at all, but I will respond to what he said. I do not compare myself to his father (Sen. Ninoy Aquino),” but Estrada reminded the LP presidential bet that his father, Ninoy, was also convicted by a special court created by the Marcos government. “Let him (Noynoy) not forget that the special court had convicted his father for murder, subversion. Ninoy was convicted, too,” Estrada stressed.
Estrada explained that he could not understand why Aquino would make such a statement.
“I really don’t understand why he gave such a comment against me. He (Noynoy) has no business in that (matter of Arroyo granting me pardon). First of all, it is the prerogative of the President. It is in the law. Noynoy has no business in that (pardon). I am not defending my having been pardoned. But he should first become president if he is against pardons granted to convicts.
At the same time, Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile, PMP senatorial bet, advised Aquino to brush up on the constitutional duties of a Philippine president, hinting broadly that Aquino is far from being ready for the presidency given that, from his statements on being against pardons for convicted persons, he doesn’t seem to even know just what the oath of office of the president, or even the Constitution, entails.
“He (Aquino) has a lot to learn. Before issuing those statements, he should read the oath of office of a president,” Enrile told the Tribune in a brief telephone interview, stressing that in that oath can be found that, apart from a president supporting and defending the Constitution, executing the laws of the land and doing justice to every man, there must be compassion. The President is expected to be compassionate, which is why the Constitution empowers the President to grant reprieves, commutations of sentences and conditional and absolute pardons,” Enrile said.
Article Vll, Section 19 states: “Except in cases of impeachment, or as otherwise provided in the Constitution, the President may grant reprieves, commutations, and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures, after conviction by final judgment. He shall also have the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of a majority of all the members of the Congress.”
Estrada stressed that his “campaign is (being conducted) on the high level. I can say what is true: That we (PMP) are the only genuine opposition,” and accused the Liberal Party and the Nacionalista Party of being pseudo-opposition.
He said that the PMP is the only “true political opposition” in the country.
“We are the true opposition, because all of them were engaged in a conspiracy to oust me in Edsa ll. They were all involved in Edsa ll...and not only that. Even during the 2004 elections, they (LP and NP) did not do anything to check on the fraud during the national canvassing. It was all ‘noted, noted, noted’ and during the proclamation, at 3 or 4 a.m., they were also there to railroad the proclamation: Senator (Franklin) Drilon and former Speaker (Jose) De Venecia.”
He questioned their motive in not allowing for the opening of the ballot boxes when the members of the opposition were questioning its integrity during the canvassing of ballots in 2004. Estrada also accused the LP of being responsible for the continued stay in power of Mrs. Arroyo which resulted in so much poverty and corruption in government.
“It was they who were together and connived with the Arroyo administration in making life harder for the Filipinos and divided the people. That is what happened in Edsa ll. That is very clear,”he said.
“Change of power in the Philippines (during the Edsa ll coup d’etat) was no boost for democracy because it was done outside the Constitution,” he added, quoting the Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuwan Yu.
The PMP also yesterday took umbrage at the statement made by Noynoy Aquino and scored him for being a political oppportunist, with the LP candidate’s “politically opportunistic” statement, by saying he was against the absolute pardon granted by Arroyo to Estrada in October 2008.
The PMP said, in a statement: “We find it difficult to reconcile this statement with Senator Aquino’s decision to seek President Estrada’s blessing when he ran for the Senate in 2007.”
PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan said, “If he (Aquino) is trying to distance himself from our standard bearer now that they are both seeking the presidency, then this is nothing more than political opportunism at its worst.”
Noynoy was one of seven Genuine Opposition (GO) bets who clinched a Senate seat with the active support of Estrada, who was then still under detention in Tanay, Rizal.
Political pundits later acknowledged that Estrada’s endorsement played a significant role in the final 7-3-2 count of the senatorial race that year, with the administration-backed Team Unity’s dismal showing also blamed on the hugely unpopular Arroyo.
But Calinisan clarified that Senator Aquino’s statement was no longer surprising given his penchant for changing his opinion for political expediency.
“We distinctly recall that Senator Aquino once confidently said he would not raise taxes once he is elected president,” Calinisan pointed out, “yet when his statement raised an outcry among businessmen and economists, he immediately retreated and changed his stand on this.
“This does not speak well of someone who says he wants to lead the country; there is no room for a wishy-washy chief executive especially at a time when our countrymen remain hostage to poverty, hunger and a lack of viable opportunities for growth,” Calinisan remarked.
The spokesman further said that there is a growing need to remind the electorate that not every candidate who claims to be from the ranks of the opposition is actually one.
“Only those who actually opposed the perverted policies of the current administration and openly denounced its misgovernance have the right to be called oppositionists,” Calinisan stressed, “while those who played a role -- even the smallest one -- in installing her to power have no business claiming to be members of the opposition.”
In Naga City, Aquino, realizing his faux pas, tried backtracking on his statements aired in an interview that said he was against the grant of pardon to Estrada.
Aquino claimed his statement on this was taken out of context, admitting that he failed to elaborate the matter, especially the issue of Estrada being not given due process.
“It was not meant to come out like that. What I failed to point out was that, if he was really afforded justice -- was conviction the appropriate decision on the case of President Estrada?,” he said.
Aquino tried to clear up the matter, when asked by reporters during a press conference in Naga City where the LP is holding its campaign sorties, as his pronouncements appeared to have stirred unnecessary tension between him and Estrada.
“Honestly, I need to review what I said about that,”he said, referring to the question on his position of the grant of pardon to the deposed president, who was convicted of plunder several years ago.
“I cannot recall the specifics (of the case). Based on my memory, there were several questions that hounded the case such as the promotion, if I am not mistaken, of the judge (that handled the case). It was a speedy promotion after his trial. The question was due to a very controversial decision (vis-a-vis) the promotion (of the judge),”he claimed in trying to get out of a sticky situation.
Aquino further noted that, in granting pardon, the sentence meted to the convicted person should be served first.
The senator said that the context of his statement was in reference to the assassination case of his father, where those accused were convicted yet the real mastermind remains unknown to this day.
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