Commission on Elections Chairman Jose Melo congratulates former President Joseph Estrada after the poll body’s second division junked the petitions to disqualify him from running in the May 2010 presidential elections.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday junked all three disqualification cases filed against former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada for lack of merit, allowing the ousted leader to run for president again in the May 2010 elections.

"The two petitions for disqualification separately filed by Evillo Pormento and Mary Lou Estrada against former President Joseph Estrada are both denied for utter lack of merit," the Comelec Second Division said in its ruling, adding that it is the Filipino people who would act as the final arbiter on whether they would have Estrada sit again as president.

“It is the electorate’s choice of who their president should be. The better policy approach is to let the people decide who will be the next president,” read the decision. “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 the court the right to elect in behalf of the people.”

The disqualification petition of lawyer Elly Pamatong against both Estrada and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was also denied by the poll body for lack of merit and for failure to comply with the rules. Mrs. Arroyo is running for congresswoman in Pampanga.

Pamatong’s petition was dismissed after the poll body noted that the petition is only being used as a political tool to advance the former’s personal interests.

“Ultimately, our duty is to ensure the proper conduct of elections enough to be embroiled in unfounded petitions like this one… It is a waste of our precious time…” said the ruling.

Estrada, who attended the promulgation, thanked the Comelec.

“I want to thank the Comelec commissioners for their sense of fairness and I would say that this is not my victory alone. This is the victory of the Filipino people and our democracy,” he said.

“Now it’s settled that sovereignty emanates from the people. It will be the people who will decide who will be the next president.”

Estrada filed his certificate of candidacy for president last November 30 under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino party.

The ruling came exactly nine years to the day Estrada filed his official leave of absence with Congress to temporarily leave Malacañang at the height of a military-backed civilian revolt that ousted him on January 20, 2001.

The poll body’s second division was led by Commissioner Nicodemus Ferrer with Commissioners Elias Yusoph and Lucenito Tagle as members.

Estrada, following the reading of the Comelec verdict before a huge crowd of foreign and local media, said the landmark promulgation was a clear interpretation of the Constitutional provision respecting the will of the people to choose their leader.

“This unprecedented Comelec decision is certainly a triumph of democracy,” he said.

The resolution is also seen to reverse the expected ill effects of the negative propaganda being peddled by rival political parties aimed at swaying away millions of Estrada loyalists over threats of his being disqualified.

Pamatong, meanwhile, was cited for direct contempt by the Comelec after he created a commotion during the promulgation and was ordered jailed for ten days.

“What he did earlier was unforgiveable. He created disturbance in the presence of so many important personalities and many lawyers were there,” Commissioner Ferrer told reporters in an interview.

“If we didn’t do anything nobody will respect us anymore. It is an utter disrespect to us that we have to react. We have to teach this fellow a lesson,” he added.

The head of the Comelec’s Second Division was referring to Pamatong’s outburst during the proceeding when he accused the commissioners of thievery.

“There were many in the audience who are top officials, former and present government officials… thereby placing us in extreme embarrassment and so we issued this order of direct contempt,” said Ferrer.

“Because we don’t have a room to hold him in confinement we directed that he be brought to the Manila City Jail for confinement for 10 days. Not bailable and unprobationable,” Ferrer said.

The poll body is also mulling the possibility of filing a case with the Supreme Court to seek Pamatong’s disbarment and perpetual disqualification for being a perpetual nuisance candidate.

Pamatong accused the Comelec of receiving a P5 million bribe money from the camp of presidential bet Vetallano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, whose candidacy was reconsidered by the poll body after disqualifying him earlier.

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. for his part said the Comelec junked the petitions against Estrada because it wants to keep its hands off from ruling on the legality of whether he should be allowed to run in the May 2010 elections.

Pimentel said the poll body’s decision is predictable but noted it can still be overturned by the Supreme Court.

“(That’s) expected. I guess the Comelec wants the Supreme Court to handle the hot potato,” Pimentel said in text message.

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of the United Opposition, Estrada’s vice presidential running mate, said the Comelec verdict should finally put to rest all questions on Estrada’s eligibility to seek reelection.

“Let this decision serve as a fair notice to all parties. You cannot anchor any case on bad arguments or faulty legal precepts. Moreover, the law cannot be bent to suit the desires of the powerful to bar a legitimate aspirant from seeking to hold the country’s highest elective post,” he said.

Binay also said the verdict must silence the detractors and critics of their tandem, saying that the decision of the Highest Tribunal and the Comelec will finally erase the doubt of the public to vote for Estrada.

“In the past months, President Erap has been the victim of misinformation and intrigues being peddled by those who feel threatened by the growing support for his candidacy. The Comelec ruling, and the decision of the Supreme Court issued last Tuesday, bodes well for the campaign,” he said.

Estrada’s spokeswoman said it is now full speed ahead with regards to the presidential campaign bid of the former chief executive.

At the Fernandina Media Forum at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, Margaux Salcedo said Estrada and his camp are ecstatic over the poll body’s decision because now they can focus on campaigning for the May elections.

“It’s now 100 percent full steam ahead for the Estrada campaign,” she said. (With reports from Hannah L. Torregoza, Kris Bayos, and Francis T. Wakefield)