Erap happy over Anwar’s release

Former President Joseph Estrada, currently detained on corruption charges, said he was happy about the release of his "good friend" former Malaysian deputy leader Anwar Ibrahim, whose conviction from sodomy and corruption charges was overturned Thursday by Malaysia’s highest court.

"I know that as a person, he’s aboveboard and his integrity is untainted. He’s a very nationalistic person. You can’t put down a good man like Anwar," Estrada said.

During a visit to Malaysia while he was still president, Estrada snubbed normal protocol and sought to visit Anwar in prison. He failed to get permission and instead met Anwar’s wife at a hotel.

Now, he said, he would be glad if Anwar could visit him in detention. Estrada is under "resthouse arrest" at his villa in Tanay, Rizal, across the Army’s Camp Capinpin which was his erstwhile detention place.

"I would appreciate it and I would be honored to meet a great man like Anwar," he said.

Former senator Heherson Alvarez also praised the Malaysian high court’s decision, saying that the "wheels of justice may grind slowly but it has been served well."

"The vindication of Anwar Ibrahim is a landmark in Asian political history because it shows us the road to greater and broader freedom. This fresh wind of change has manifested that a courageous opposition, though it may suffer setbacks, can overcome in time, the overwhelming power of authoritarianism," Alvarez, who led a Philippine delegation that visited Anwar in jail nearly six years ago, said in a statement.

The United States, Australia and New Zealand also welcomed Anwar’s release from prison.

"Justice has finally been done," New Zealand Foreign Minister Phil Goff said after a panel of judges in Malaysia’s highest court ruled 2-1 to reverse the 2000 conviction.