Regarding the Oct. 31 editorial, "A deal in Manila": The Embassy of the Philippines would like to stress that serving the national interest -- not political expediency -- guided President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's decision to grant executive clemency to former President Joseph Estrada.
In her speech before the 33rd Philippine Business Conference on Oct. 26, the president said that "national unity and advancement along with the rule of law, justice and accountability" were the bases of her decision. The president's decision was consistent with one of her goals in her 10-point legacy agenda -- that "hopefully by 2010 the divisive issues generated by Edsa 1, 2 and what some people call Edsa 3 will be just memories."
The president made the decision after a thorough and careful examination of all the relevant issues -- constitutional, legal and political. However, even with the grant of executive clemency, the government has assured that the forfeitures imposed by the Sandiganbayan (antigraft court) remain in force including all writs and processes issued by the court, except for the bank account(s) that Mr. Estrada owned before his tenure as president. He had been held in detention for 6½ years following the Sandiganbayan's arrest order in April 2001.
The embassy further wishes to clarify that Mr. Estrada was removed from office in January 2001, not 1991 as indicated in the editorial.
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