MANILA – For the first time in nine years, ousted president Joseph Estrada returned to Malacanang on Tuesday to attend a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) to discuss vital issues, especially peace and order and the coming May elections.
It was also the first time in five years that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo convened the NSC to a full meeting since 2005 when she was hounded by demands for her resignation from religious, civil society and militant groups following allegations of her participation in the rigging of the 2004 presidential elections.
In calling the meeting, President Arroyo said she wanted a full consensus from the participants to ensure that the May 2010 elections are held as scheduled and that such political exercise is transparent and credible.
The NSC is composed of the country’s former presidents, selected members of the Cabinet as well as ranking administration and opposition leaders from the Senate and the House of Representatives.
But Estrada could not attend the 2005 NSC meeting because he was under detention while facing trial for plunder before the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court.
Acting Secretary Norberto Gonzales disclosed that former president Fidel Ramos was also invited but sent his regrets he could not attend because he is abroad.
During the meeting, Estrada read from a prepared statement in which he questioned the wisdom in the creation of a special commission by President Arroyo to tackle ways to dismantle private armed groups maintained by the country’s political “warlords.â€
Security officials have admitted these groups, more popularly known as “private armies,†pose the biggest threat to the holding of honest, peaceful and credible polls in May.
However, Estrada pointed out there was no need to set up the commission, stressing that the Department of National Defense and the Department of Interior and Local Government are mandated to go after and dismantle private armies.
Besides, he said, if the military and the police really mean business in dismantling these armies, there are more than enough laws to enable them to achieve this aim.
Providing an interesting sidelight was that Estrada sat beside President Arroyo during the NSC meeting held at the Heroes Hall in Malacanang.
When Estrada was president, he also presided over Cabinet meetings in which then vice president Arroyo used to sit beside him in her concurrent capacity as the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
But the situation for the two leaders drastically changed when Estrada was ousted by the Edsa 11 People Power Revolution in 2001 and was succeeded by President Arroyo.
Upon his arrival in Malacanang Tuesday morning, Estrada himself reminded Palace journalists in a short interview that it was the first time in nine years that he returned to the scene of his former glory.
“It will be exactly nine years on January 21 when I was forced to leave Malacanang,†Estrada said.
When asked whether he entertains hopes of again occupying Malacanang, Estrada answered: “That’s destiny.â€
Estrada is running for president in the coming May elections as the standard bearer of the political party which he founded “Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino†(PMP or the Force of the Filipino Masses).
However, recent public opinion polls have shown Estrada running a poor third after the pacesetter Senator Benigno “Noynoy†Aquino of the Liberal Party with Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party at second.
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