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Thursday, October 25, 2007
Arroyo to rely on survey results for Estrada’s pardon
MANILA -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will rely on results of a survey in granting pardon to former President Joseph Estrada who will be detained at the New Bilibid Prisons in two weeks if no pardon is given.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol said Wednesday Malacañang is conducting a survey on the public’s sentiment about giving pardon to Estrada.
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Apostol said President Arroyo will rely on the results of the survey in deciding on Estrada’s appeal for a “full, free, and unconditional pardon.”
“Public opinion is a factor also,” he said, although he refused to say which agency is conducting the survey.
The Sandiganbayan at the same said that Estrada will be taken to the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa City if the former President fails to present a presidential pardon when his plunder case is called for execution of judgment in two week’s time.
Acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera has said she will submit to the President this week her recommendation on Estrada’s appeal, which could include details on the forfeiture of the former leader’s asset.
Devanadera said the appeal for pardon is not necessarily an admission of guilt on Estrada’s part.
The forfeiture of Estrada’s assets, said Apostol, would continue because the civil aspect of the case is not affected by pardon.
He said with his application for pardon, Estrada has already recognized Arroyo as his President.
Last September 12, the Sandiganbayan convicted Estrada of plunder and sentenced him to a maximum of 40 years of imprisonment.
Sandiganbayan Special Division spokesman Renato Bocar said the graft court allowed Estrada to stay at his family’s rest house in Tanay, Rizal in consideration of his stature as a former chief executive, but only in the pendency of his motion for reconsideration.
“If no pardon is issued by November 7, the court will issue a mittimus and the PNP (Philippine National Police) will be ordered to commit former President Estrada to the New Bibilid Prisons. That’s part of the execution of the decision,” the court official explained.
A “mittimus” is a writ issued by a court directing the sheriff to turn over custody of a convicted felon to a jail officer and ordering said jailor to commit said person to the prison.
Bocar explained that if Estrada fails to secure a pardon by November 7, his lawyers will have to move fast and ask the court for a deferment of the execution of judgment citing the pendency of his petition of pardon as basis.
“However, in the event that the pardon is issued ahead of November 7, the execution of judgment will be mooted. The Sandiganbayan will then issue an order to the PNP to release President Estrada from detention. Without that order, the police may continue to hold on to his person,” he said.
Bocar clarified that a pardon may or may not cover Estrada’s assets earlier forfeited by the Sandiganbayan in favor of the State.
He pointed out that the 1987 Constitution separately tackled the subject of jail term and forfeited assets in relation to the grant of pardon to a convicted person.
“In the plunder case, forfeiture was part of the penalty. The decision identified the assets of former President Estrada and their source, particularly the bank accounts. Those deposits had paper trails so that, even if they are transferred, the money can still be traced. Regardless of who are holding those funds now, the State will be able to recover them,” Bocar said.
The verdict declared as Estrada’s ill-gotten wealth the P189 million profit commission for the purchase of Belle Corp shares by the Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System; P545 million jueteng collections including a P200 million in the account of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation; and the Boracay mansion in New Manila, Quezon City supposedly purchased at the cost of P142 million. (JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (October 25, 2007 issue)
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