MANILA, January 20, 2010 (AFP) - Deposed Philippine leader Joseph Estrada declared Wednesday he was confident of reclaiming the presidency, after the election commission ruled he could run again in this May's polls.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) rejected a challenge from a group of lawyers that Estrada should be banned due to a constitutional requirement that says presidents cannot seek re-election after serving their six-year term.

However the case on Estrada was not so clear cut, as he served only three years in office before being deposed in 2001 due to massive corruption during his reign.

"In the end, 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 Comelec committee ruled.

Comelec committee head Nicodemo Ferrer ruled the constitutional ban did not apply to Estrada, saying this pertains "to an incumbent president and not to someone already previously elected".

However signalling the legal battle may not be over, lawyer Evilio Pormento said he would appeal the ruling to the entire Comelec body.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo can still either uphold or reverse Wednesday's ruling.

Nevertheless, Estrada said Comelec's decision on Wednesday was a major victory.

"Now it's settled. Sovereignty emanates from the people and it will be the people who will decide who will be the next president," Estrada told reporters.

"I’m very confident like in '98," he said, referring to the 1998 presidential election, which he won by a landslide.

The former movie star, now 72, is polling in third place behind Senators Benigno Aquino and Manuel Villar.