Former president Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada will not back out from the presidential race, dashing hopes that there will be a common opposition candidate for the 2010 elections.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada told reporters that his father will stand pat on his plans to join the presidential derby, sending signals that alleged fresh attempts between his father and another opposition contender, Sen. Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino, to unify the opposition have gone kaput.

Aquino and the former president had a dialogue brokered by former trade secretary Jose ‘Titoy’ Pardo, a cabinet member under Estrada’s short-lived administration. One of those present at the meeting was Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.

Both presidential wannabes chose to keep mum on the outcome of the meeting, though the younger Estrada said that the two presidential contenders will issue a joint statement soon to show a unified stand against election fraud and the administration.

Sen. Estrada stressed, however, that there will be no expected declaration on a single opposition contender.

Telltale signs
Senate president and noted Estrada ally Juan Ponce Enrile, says the sitdown was doomed from the very start if its aim is to unify the opposition.

Enrile, chairman emeritus of Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), said that Estrada is poised to join the race. “Erap has already stated in Pangasinan that he is 99.9 percent sure of running,” he said.   

The older Estrada remains a force to reckon with, staying put at 2nd place in recent presidential surveys.

Estrada rose to the number 2 position in the latest Pulse Asia presidential poll last August with a rating of 19 percent, meaning around one of five Filipinos preferred him to be Arroyo's successor. Estrada at that time trailed behind Nacionalista Party's Manuel Villar, who topped the poll with 25 percent.

Aquino, who joined the presidential race after the death of his mother—former President Corazon Aquino—in early August renewed the much-vaunted yellow fever among Filipinos, was not yet considered as contender for the presidency in any of the previous polls.

However, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted in early September among vote-rich areas in Luzon placed Aquino at the lead among presidential aspirants.  

In the SWS survey, Aquino was favored by almost 50 percent of respondents from Metro Manila, Pangasinan, Region 3 and Region 4A, an area that covers an estimated 40 percent of registered voters.

Estrada came in second with 13 percent in a virtual tie with Villar, Sen. Francis ‘Chiz’ Escudero and vice president Noli de Castro.  

The new survey dashed the plans of erstwhile presidential aspirant Manuel Roxas, who decided to back out of the presidential race and back Aquino instead as standard bearer of the Liberal Party for the May 2010 polls.

Enrile said that these are all indicators that no one will withdraw from the race.

United… senatorial line-up
Sen. Panfilo Lacson has earlier urged Estrada, however, to give way to Aquino to prove that he is keen in his call to unify the opposition, a suggestion met coldly by the former president.

Estrada initially indicated that he would only run for the presidency if the opposition cannot field a single aspirant.

By the looks of it, however, the opposition will again remain divided, a scenario which played out in the 2004 polls when Lacson, faced-off with movie actor Fernando Poe Jr.–against Estrada’s wishes.

Shreds of a unified opposition may be discerned at most in a common senatorial line-up, as Jinggoy said that both LP and PMP have yet to come up with a slate of candidates.

“That’s what we talked about. The Liberal Party may not also be able to form a senatorial slate. We also may not come up with one. Might as well that both PMP and LP adopt [each other’s] candidates,” he said.

The LP has bared four names so far for its senatorial contenders: former Senate president Franklin Drilon, former Bukidnon Rep. Nereus Acosta, Akbayan Partylist Rep. Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel and Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon.
 
Legal obstacles
If he decides to throw his hat in the political ring this time around, however, Estrada will have to hurdle legal obstacles to his candidacy.

A provision in the 1987 Constitution may be used to prevent him from taking another shot at the presidency.

Article VII, Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution states: “The President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”

Estrada was elected president in 1998 but was ousted from power in 2001 following allegations of corruption and involvement in the illegal numbers game jueteng.

The issue remains a contentious point as other legal luminaries opined that Estrada could still vie for the presidency next year since his term, cut short by his ouster from office in 2001, did not cover the period of four years indicated in the constitution.   

The Sandiganbayan convicted Estrada of plunder in 2007. And while he was immediately pardoned by President Arroyo, some lawyers say the fact that he was convicted in court may also be another obstacle to his renewed presidential ambitions. – abs-cbnNEWS.com/ Newsbreak