Comelec vows to act swiftly on Erap case

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said it will immediately resolve the issue springing from the candidacy of former President Joseph Estrada and will decide whether or not it is lawful to allow the ousted leader to run in next year’s polls.
“Dahil napaka-importante ng case ni former president Erap, it is certain na it would be resolved by the commission as soon as possible,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said in a phone interview.
The Comelec official said they are expecting Estrada’s candidacy to be challenged before the Supreme Court.
“We want to give the SC more time to tackle it… The sooner it is out of the Comelec’s hands, the sooner the SC will have time to resolve it,” Jimenez said. Lawyer Evillo Pormento of Parañaque City filed a disqualification case against Estrada over the weekend, saying it is a “direct and clear violation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, particularly Article VII Section 4.”
In the three-page petition, Pormento said Estrada’s candidacy could set a bad precedent of allowing former presidents to run for a second time.
Pormento maintained that the act violates the constitutional provision that prescribes a full six-year term for a president without the benefit of re-election.
“The filing of respondent’s Certificate of Candidacy as presidential candidate is in direct and clear violation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution, particularly Article VII Section 4, 2nd sentence, which states: The president shall not be eligible for any re-election,” Pormento said.
The lawyer wants Estrada to be declared a nuisance candidate and excluded from the official list of candidates printed in the 2010 ballots.
“To allow respondent to run as presidential candidate in the coming 2010 presidential election and to admit his CoC will become a bad precedent because other former presidents of this country would follow suit by also filing their CoC in future presidential elections.
“It will also defeat the wisdom behind the creation of the aforementioned Constitutional provision which prescribes a one full six-year term of the president without the benefit of re-election,” the petitioner said.
Supporters of Estrada stressed that only incumbent presidents are ineligible for re-election, adding that the former president was also unable to complete his term when he was ousted in 2001.
Earlier, lawyer Oliver Lozano also filed a disqualification case against Estrada but it was dismissed by the Comelec.
Presidential political adviser Prospero Pichay, Jr. for his part said Estrada can run next year as he disclaimed reports that Malacanang is behind the new disqualification case against the opposition leader.
“Why should it be blamed on the administration or Malacañang? We have nothing to do with that,” Pichay said.
“Time and again, and even before I became the political adviser, I am of the belief that former president Estrada can run and there is no reason he will not be able to run,” he added.
Pichay said Pormento is not in any way connected with Malacanang or the Arroyo administration.
“Kaya nga I want to dispel speculations that the administration is behind the filing of the disqualification of former president Estrada. I would like to dispel the speculations that Malacanang is behind the disqualification case against former president Estrada,” Pichay stressed.
According to Pichay, only President Arroyo, who is the incumbent president, is ineligible to run for re-election next year.
“Maliwanag ang nasa Saligang Batas na the president cannot run for reelection and the president refers to the incumbent,” Pichay said.

source: The Manila Bulletin (mb.com.ph)