Second 'people power' lessons for Sara Duterte trial from Joseph Estrada's fall

The Star

13-06-2025

MANILA: As Joseph 'Erap' Estrada's presidency fell in 2001, the government that was brought to power by the protest of millions of people on EDSA started to exact accountability from the one who once promised to lift the poor out of poverty.
But while it ended well, Estrada eventually walked out of prison, only a few weeks after his conviction for two counts of plunder, and for a UP Diliman professor of political science, it was a clear indication that 'the powerful have advantages.'
The 'revolution' on Jan 16 to 20, 2001 was a show of dissent — people believed that the trial in the Senate, marked by the refusal of 11 senators to open an envelope that could serve as the smoking gun to convict Estrada, will not hold him liable.
Like the one in 1986 that ended a 20-year dictatorship, millions of people crowded the streets and called on Estrada to resign. It was a protest against corruption, a display of power that will always be greater than the presidency and any one in government.
With the refusal of 11 senators, Aquilino 'Nene' Pimentel Jr. resigned as Senate president and walked out of the session hall, together with nine other senators who voted to open the 'second envelope.'
This triggered Filipinos to converge on EDSA on the night of Jan 16. The next day, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, as he did in 1986, called on the people to take part in the protest, which grew immensely.
ALSO READ PART ONE: The rise and fall of Joseph Estrada: From people's champion to disgraced Philippine president
As more people came, a kilometres-long human chain was formed from Ayala Avenue in Makati City to the EDSA Shrine on Jan 18, signalling to Estrada that millions of Filipinos were already demanding his resignation.
But even as the police and the military withdrew their support and eventually took part in the protest, Estrada asserted that he will not resign, calling on TV for a snap presidential election on May 14 but without him as candidate.
This, however, was only viewed as his way to still hold on to the presidency.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was then the vice president, took her oath of office as president before Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide on Jan 20, the same day Estrada left Malacanang without making an official resignation.
A few months after his ouster, the Ombudsman filed two charges against Estrada before the Sandiganbayan: one for plunder and one for perjury, which is a case he was later cleared from.
The plunder charge consisted of four cases:
> Receiving P545 million worth of payoffs from illegal gambling
> Diverting P130 million in excise tobacco taxes to his own use
> Bagging P189 million worth of commission from the sale of the shares of Belle Corporation to government pension funds
> Maintaining a P3 billion bank account with the name 'Jose Velarde'
Republic Act No. 7080, as amended, penalises public officials who 'amass immense wealth through a series or combination of overt or criminal acts described in the statute in violation of the public trust.'
Estrada and his son, Jinggoy Estrada, were eventually arrested.
They were both initially detained at the Veteran's Memorial Medical Center, but when the younger Estrada posted a P500,000 bail, his father was moved to Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
He was placed on house arrest at his rest house in Tanay, Rizal, close to a military camp. It was where Estrada stayed until and even after the Sandiganbayan rendered its decision on the case.
It took over six years for the Sandiganbayan to reach a decision.
Estrada, in 2007, was convicted of two counts of plunder — the acceptance of 'protection money' from illegal gambling and bagging commission in the sale of shares of a real estate company to government pension funds.
He was cleared of the other two. His son, Jinggoy, was acquitted.
As a result of the conviction, Estrada was sentenced to reclusion perpetua. The verdict likewise barred him from holding public office again, while millions worth of resources were ordered forfeited.
> Over P545 million, with interest and income earned, inclusive of the amount of P200 million deposited in the name and account of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation
>P189 million, inclusive of interests and income earned, deposited in the 'Jose Velarde' account
>The real property 'Boracay Mansion' located in New Manila, Quezon City
The period within which Estrada has been in detention was credited to him.
For political analyst Maria Ela Atienza, there was 'moral and legal victory in the fact that Estrada was impeached, forced out of the presidency, and convicted in court.' But his eventual release proved how powerful the elite are.
Not even a year had passed when Arroyo, who rose to the presidency in the same 'revolution' that ousted Estrada, gave the latter an executive clemency through a pardon, which Estrada accepted on Oct 26 of the same year.
It was believed that Arroyo's move was made for her to get advantage from the opposition and to deflect the charges of corruption within her own administration, as stated in a report by Reuters.
But the pardon and his eventual release from detention paved the way for his political resurrection, even when his conviction carried a penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office.
This, as he initiated a bid for the presidency in the 2010 elections, having then Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay as his candidate for vice president. While he lost to Benigno Aquino III, he received over nine million votes.
Estrada, three years later, won as mayor of Manila. While his win was met with opposition, considering that he was barred from holding public office again, the Supreme Court said he was eligible.
While Associate Justice Marvic Leonen pointed out that Estrada 'continues to suffer the penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification,' the Supreme Court, in an 11-3 vote, stressed that Estrada had the right to seek public office.
Estrada was mayor of Manila for six years until 2019, when he lost his reelection bid to Isko Moreno-Domagoso, who was once his candidate for vice mayor back in 2013, the year that marked his political comeback.
For Atienza, this is the reason that 'we have to impress upon presidents who have the power to pardon that it is not in their interest to pardon officials who commit high crimes.' - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN