The Estrada Pardon

The Estrada Pardon

It’s official. President Arroyo will pardon former President Estrada. Estrada, who had been convicted by the Sandiganbayan barely a month ago, will soon be a free man with no criminal liabilities attaching to him.

Pardon and executive clemency is a power granted to the President by virtue of the Constitution. She has the discretion to grant it to whomever she believes deserves this form of legal mercy.

The use of such power in a high-profile case is not without precedent. It has happened before in the United States, when President Gerald Ford pardoned former President Richard Nixon after he resigned due to the Watergate scandal. So in a sense, President Arroyo’s actions not only has legal basis, but also historical antecedents as well.

But if we are to look at history, the use of the pardoning power involves controversy rather than mercy. Whatever semblance of merciful anticipation is lost in the overwhelming din of scandal. President Clinton’s last act in office was pardoning Mark Rich, a man largely considered a crook. President Ford’s first “great” act as President was pardoning Nixon, and his presidential career never recovered. He was soon hounded by accusations that he had sold out the American people, that he had made a deal with Nixon in order to become the next president (Ford was Nixon’s then vice-president and next in line). In the next presidential elections where Ford sought his own mandate to lead, he was overwhelmingly trounced by Jimmy Carter.

Arroyo’s pardon will probably have that same negative effect. Even at this early stage there is already opposition to the pardon from various sectors of society. Former President Ramos even believes that pardon may lead to Arroyo’s downfall.

Although the pardon may be needed in order for the Filipino people to move on, I do believe that granting the pardon so soon is a slap in the face of our criminal justice system. The Sandiganbayan and Special Prosecutor Villa-Ignacio spent around 2 years convicting Estrada. And in little less than a month, that conviction is thrown to the winds? The President should have waited, if only out of respect to the law and to the concept of justice.

These are now the questions on everyone’s minds: is the pardon the tipping point for the Arroyo Presidency? Are we seeing a shift in power and the resurgence of the Estrada political factions? Is there a new political alliance in the works? Or is this just the kindness of a merciful President?

In politics, we have just seen that literally anything is possible. For now we must bow to the executive discretion of the President, and wait for what that pardon could herald.

So whether that pardon be good or bad for the country, remains to be seen.