Former President Joseph Estrada drives a jeepney with running mate Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay as they proceed to the Comelec main office to file their certificates of candidacy (CoC) for the May 2010 elections. (Photo by LINUS G. ESCANDOR II)

“I am eligible to run for President.”

With these words, former President Joseph Estrada affixed his signature on his Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) to run for President in the May 2010 presidential elections before a big crowd of foreign and local media, and a sea of supporters and admirers.

“I am running for the presidency standing on the same platform of food security and peace and order to protect our citizens and our nation’s territorial integrity that all Filipinos will stand shoulder-to-shoulder under one flag, one Armed Forces of the Philippines, and one government,” Estrada said early Monday morning before he left his North Greenhills home for Liwasang Bonifacio.

Estrada’s writing his name on the CoC brought to an end speculations that he was withdrawing from next year’s presidential race apparently aimed to dampen the enthusiasm among millions of his followers who delivered 10.8 million votes that propelled him to the presidency in 1998.

His filing of the CoC before the Commission on Elections, according to Estrada, is the culmination of his ultimate confidence in the Rule of Law and in the triumph of the constitutional provision that “sovereignty resides in the sovereign people.”

Thousands of Estrada’s supporters followed the popular opposition leader’s motorcade from Liwasang Bonifacio to the Comelec offices on Arroceros Street in Manila where another big crowd had been waiting for him.

Also waiting at the Comelec offices was his legal panel expecting the filing of disqualifying petitions against Estrada from some players in the 2001 power grab that shortened Estrada’s six-year term.

Estrada said he was confident that the “sovereign will of the people would be recognized and upheld” once disqualification cases are filed against him. In the meantime, Estrada added, he would concentrate on his campaign plan in the months ahead “and stick with it until the job is done.”

Estrada said he had chosen Bonifacio Day for the filing of his CoC to honor the pro-poor ideals and struggles of national hero Andres Bonifacio “in his fight against the excesses of the Spanish regime at the expense of our poor.”

“Today, long after the Spanish invaders had left, we are again in the mercy of a brand-new class of economic aggressors, the elitist proclaiming themselves the civil society with their hidden personal and corporate agendas,” Estrada said.

Estrada was joined by his vice presidential candidate Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and senatorial candidates led by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and his son, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada.

The other senatorial candidates who also filed their CoCs were Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza, Joey de Venecia III, and NBN-ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada.

Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Bong Revilla are guest candidates of Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Estrada’s legal panel led by former Justice Magdangal Elma said “what is at stake here is not the determination of the suitability of former President Estrada to be president again . . . but rather the advocacy for the recognition of the sovereignty of the people.”

According to Elma, there can be no genuine, free and fair election when the people’s right to choose is manipulated or eliminated.

He also cited Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political right that “guarantees that every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity... to vote and be elected at genuine periodic elections . . . guaranteeing the free expression of the will of the voters.”

At the same time, Elma quoted Sec. 26 Article II of the 1987 Constitution providing that the right to be voted to a public office is a sacred political right of every Filipino citizen being recognized in the Constitutional provision “that the State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service.”

Elma expressed confidence that eventually, the Filipino voters will find comfort in a decision penned by Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno who wrote:

“The better policy approach is to let the people decide who will be the next President. For on political questions, this Court may err but the sovereign people will not. To be sure, the Constitution did not grant to the unelected members of this Court the right to elect in behalf of the people.”