G.R. No.
206666, January 21, 2015
ATTY. ALICIA RISOS-VIDAL, ALFREDO S. LIM PETITIONER-INTERVENOR,
VS. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS AND JOSEPH EJERCITO ESTRADA
LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.:
NATURE:
These are petitions including:
1) a Petition for Certiorari filed by Atty. Alicia Risos-Vidal, which essentially prays for the
issuance of the writ of certiorari annulling and setting aside the April 1, 2013 and April 23,
2013 Resolutions of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), Second Division and En banc,
respectively.
(2) a Petition-in-Intervention[ filed by Alfredo S. Lim praying to be declared the 2013 winning
candidate for Mayor of the City of Manila in view of private respondent former President
Joseph Ejercito Estrada’s) disqualification to run for and hold public office
FACTS:
On September 12, 2007, the Sandiganbayan convicted former President Estrada, a former
President of the Republic of the Philippines, for the crime of plunder and was sentenced to
suffer the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua and the accessory penalties of civil interdiction
during the period of sentence and perpetual absolute disqualification.
On October 25, 2007, however, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo extended
executive clemency, by way of pardon, to former President Estrada explicitly states that He
is hereby restored to his civil and political rights.
On November 30, 2009, former President Estrada filed a Certificate of Candidacy[7] for the
position of President but was opposed by three petitions seeking for his disqualification.
None of the cases prospered and MRs were denied by Comelec En Banc. Estrada only
managed to garner the second highest number of votes on the May 10, 2010 synchronized
elections.
On October 2, 2012, former President Estrada once more ventured into the political arena,
and filed a Certificate of Candidacy,[10] this time vying for a local elective post, that of the
Mayor of the City of Manila.
Petitioner Risos-Vidal filed a Petition for Disqualification against former President Estrada
before the COMELEC because of Estrada’s Conviction for Plunder by the Sandiganbayan
Sentencing Him to Suffer the Penalty of Reclusion Perpetua with Perpetual Absolute
Disqualification. Petitioner relied on Section 40 of the Local Government Code (LGC), in
relation to Section 12 of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC)
In a Resolution dated April 1, 2013, the COMELEC, Second Division, dismissed the petition
for disqualification holding that President Estrada’s right to seek public office has been
effectively restored by the pardon vested upon him by former President Gloria M. Arroyo.
Estrada won the mayoralty race in May 13, 2013 elections. Petitioner-intervenor Alfredo Lim
garnered the second highest votes intervene and seek to disqualify Estrada for the same
ground as the contention of Risos-Vidal and praying that he be proclaimed as Mayor of
Manila.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the COMELEC committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction in ruling that former President Estrada is qualified to vote and be voted
for in public office as a result of the pardon granted to him by former President Arroyo.
HELD:
No. The COMELEC did not commit grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction in issuing the assailed Resolutions. The arguments forwarded by Risos-Vidal fail
to adequately demonstrate any factual or legal bases to prove that the assailed COMELEC
Resolutions were issued in a “whimsical, arbitrary or capricious exercise of power that
amounts to an evasion or refusal to perform a positive duty enjoined by law” or were so
“patent and gross” as to constitute grave abuse of discretion.
Former President Estrada was granted an absolute pardon that fully restored allhis civil and
political rights, which naturally includes the right to seek public elective office, the focal
point of this controversy. The wording of the pardon extended to former President Estrada
is complete, unambiguous, and unqualified. It is likewise unfettered by Articles 36 and 41 of
the Revised Penal Code. The only reasonable, objective, and constitutional interpretation of
the language of the pardon is that the same in fact conforms to Articles 36 and 41 of the
Revised Penal Code.
The proper interpretation of Articles 36 and 41 of the Revised Penal Code.
A close scrutiny of the text of the pardon extended to former President Estrada shows that
both the principal penalty of reclusion perpetua and its accessory penalties are included in
the pardon. The sentence which states that “(h)e is hereby restored to his civil and political
rights,” expressly remitted the accessory penalties that attached to the principal penalty
of reclusion perpetua. Hence, even if we apply Articles 36 and 41 of the Revised Penal Code,
it is indubitable from the text of the pardon that the accessory penalties of civil interdiction
and perpetual absolute disqualification were expressly remitted together with the principal
penalty of reclusion perpetua.

The disqualification of former President Estrada under Section 40 of the LGC in relation to
Section 12 of the OEC was removed by his acceptance of the absolute pardon granted to
him

While it may be apparent that the proscription in Section 40(a) of the LGC is worded in
absolute terms, Section 12 of the OEC provides a legal escape from the prohibition – a
plenary pardon or amnesty. In other words, the latter provision allows any person who has
been granted plenary pardon or amnesty after conviction by final judgment of an offense
involving moral turpitude, inter alia, to run for and hold any public office, whether local or
national position.

FALLO: Petition is dismissed