Saturday, October 27, 2007 (Philippines)

Former president Joseph Estrada tells supporters gathered near his home in San Juan, Rizal that his people exonerated him and that this mattered more to him than the decision of any court. In a separate press statement, he said he would prefer to be called “Plain Citizen Erap.” With him at the podium are Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.(AP photo) MANILA - Former president Joseph Estrada emerged from more than six years of detention a free man yesterday afternoon, while the lawyers who prosecuted him began preparing to challenge his pardon before the Supreme Court. “I may have committed mistakes in my career as a public servant, but I assure you that corruption was never one of them,” Estrada told his supporters at his San Juan residence. For her part, President Arroyo spent part of the day defending her grant of executive clemency to the former president. [full story]