Erap to Leonen: Go back to law school

MANILA, Philippines - Supreme Court (SC) Associate Justice Marvic Leonen should go back to law school, former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada said yesterday, for insisting that he can no longer run for public office.

In a telephone interview with The STAR, Estrada said the recent ruling of the SC with a vote of 11-3 clearly recognized that the pardon granted to him by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo restored his “full civil and political rights.”

“He might be out of his mind... If I can vote, I can be voted upon,” Estrada told The STAR, adding that Leonen should “return and study law again.”

In a dissenting opinion on the SC ruling upholding the eligibility of Estrada in the 2013 mayoralty race, Leonen said the penalty of perpetual disqualification from public office imposed by the Sandiganbayan in his 2007 plunder conviction was absolute.          

Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno and Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio agreed with Leonen’s opinion.