MANILA, Philippines -- Joseph Estrada will be a free man on Friday after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Thursday granted a pardon to her disgraced predecessor, saving the convicted plunderer from life imprisonment in the national penitentiary.

Critics said Ms Arroyo rushed through the executive clemency just six weeks after Estrada’s conviction to curry favor with the opposition and to deflect mounting charges of corruption within her own administration.

“I hereby grant executive clemency to Joseph Ejercito Estrada,” acting Executive Secretary Ignacio Bunye said on television at 5:39 p.m. Thursday, quoting from Ms Arroyo’s order. “He is hereby restored to his civil and political rights.”

Bunye, who is also the press secretary and presidential spokesperson, said the pardon would take effect upon Estrada’s acceptance of it.

“I am glad that, finally, I will be of more help to our country. It’s about time to think of ways to help our poor fellow Filipinos,” an elated Estrada said upon learning of the Palace announcement.

In a statement, former President Corazon Aquino said she was “happy” for Estrada and his family. “I pray that as a free man … [he] will harness the lessons he has learned from the sufferings he has endured and continue to serve our less fortunate brothers and sisters.”

Reading Ms Arroyo’s order, Bunye cited three reasons for the grant of a presidential pardon.

Estrada is 70 years old and thus qualifies for clemency in keeping with the Arroyo administration’s policy of releasing inmates who have reached that age, he said.

The President also considered the fact that Estrada had been under detention for six and a half years and that he “has publicly committed to no longer seek elective position or office,” Bunye said.

Forfeiture

But Ms Arroyo said the forfeiture of Estrada’s property and money imposed by the Sandiganbayan would “remain in force and in full, including all writs and processes issued by the Sandiganbayan in pursuance hereof, except for the bank account(s) he owned before his tenure as President.”

On Sept. 12, the anti-graft court ordered the forfeiture to the government of Estrada’s “jueteng” (illegal numbers game) payoffs amounting to P545.29 million with interest, including the P200 million deposited in the name of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation, the P189-million commission from the purchase of Belle Corp. shares, and the “Boracay Mansion” in New Manila, Quezon City.

In 1998, when Estrada began his term as President, his declared assets were worth P46.3 million.

Ms Arroyo instructed Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, whom she had assigned to initiate pardon talks with Estrada, to deliver a copy of the pardon to the ousted leader by 9 a.m. Friday in Tanay, Rizal, Bunye said in a press conference.

“He has to sign it to prove that he has received and accepted the pardon,” Puno said.

Puno will then formally transmit the document to the Sandiganbayan. “Once [it] … formally notes the order and the acceptance, then the order is returned to Tanay after which the President would be released,” Bunye said.

“So that could take place in a span of maybe three hours,” he said.

Sandiganbayan sheriff Ed Urieta will deliver the release order to Tanay for implementation, according to Renato Bocar, executive clerk of court and acting spokesperson.

1 p.m. departure

Estrada told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) that he would be leaving his vacation house in Tanay, where he has remained under house arrest since 2004, at about 1 p.m. Friday.

Bunye told reporters that the decision to grant a pardon to Estrada was based on the recommendations made by acting Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera who, he said, “actively participated” in the preparation of the order itself.

“The President has considered all factors and circumstances and the President is convinced that based on the recommendation of the DoJ that this pardon is in order and is appropriate,” he said, in reply to questions that the pardon was granted amid opposition by some groups.

Puno admitted that the Cabinet had been debating since Monday, shortly after Malacañang received a copy of Estrada’s letter seeking “full, free and unconditional pardon” and after he dropped his motion for reconsideration of the Sandiganbayan’s guilty verdict.

In the end, Puno said he prevailed after he convinced the President that a prompt action on the application for executive clemency would augur well for the country’s future.

Estrada’s day

For his first day as a free man Friday, Estrada has everything planned out: A quick meet-and-greet with supporters, a low-key dinner with family and friends, and a sleepover by the bedside of his ailing mother at the hospital.

He had explained that his decision to concede to his lawyers’ advice came after he realized the futility of continuing to fight for his innocence to a court that showed no signs of overturning its guilty verdict.

“When I was ousted from Malacañang in January 2001, I went straight to my hometown, to the City Hall where all my supporters received me. That’s what I would do [Friday],” said Estrada.

Estrada dismissed talks of running for political office again. “Being in politics for 30 years is already enough. I am already old. I will find ways to help [without entering politics],” he said.

On Jan. 20, 2001, when he left Malacañang after he was ousted by a military-backed “people power” uprising, Estrada went directly to the then San Juan municipal hall (now City Hall), an opposition bailiwick and local seat of his power.

This time around, Estrada will again journey to City Hall, where he is expected to be greeted by his son, Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito, family members, political allies and hundreds of supporters in a “simple” celebration.

Estrada, who had served as San Juan mayor for 16 years, will address the crowd at 1 p.m. from a small stage, said Lheng Alejo of the city’s public information office. There will be no motorcade or parade, she said.

Ailing mother

The ousted leader will proceed to the nearby San Juan Medical Center to visit his mother, 102-year-old Doña Mary Ejercito, who is suffering from pneumonia and other complications.

Estrada’s wife, former Sen. Luisa “Loi” Ejercito, Thursday said the household in Polk Street, North Greenhills, was busy preparing food for her husband and well-wishers, who are expected to troop to his residence.

“He told me that he will be here after lunch,” she said. She said her husband had told her early this week that he would be “home” Friday.

The “thanksgiving party” will start with a Mass to be attended by Estrada’s Cabinet secretaries and allies in the opposition, Ejercito said.

In Cebu City, Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal and the two leaders of Congress earlier asked Ms Arroyo to give Estrada “full and absolute” pardon.

“With the multitude of others of like minds, we appeal and ask the President to extend full, free and absolute pardon to former President Joseph Estrada and that he unconditionally accept this act of clemency from the President,” wrote Vidal, Senate President Manuel Villar and Speaker Jose de Venecia in a letter dated Sept. 16, 2007, and aired Thursday by radio station dyLa.

The three noted that the indictment of Estrada before the Sandiganbayan and his detention without bail have diverted the attention and efforts of the country from addressing the critical problems of poverty, development, terrorism, peace and order and social tensions.

Critical problems

Villar said the pardon was a “great step toward reconciliation which emphasizes the value of humane consideration and compassionate justice.”

Estrada has retained much of his popularity, particularly among the disenfranchised urban poor, from his film portrayals as underdog heroes.

Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., also a former actor, agreed with Villar.

"I hope that will put to a close this previous chapter of our political history that has brought division and polarization among our people," he said. "I call on the critics to give this a chance and to stop their bickering."

The pardon, rumored even before Estrada's conviction, was immediately hailed and assailed.

Sen. Francis Escudero said he was happy for Estrada’s newfound freedom. “I hope he can be with his mother soon while she recuperates from her ailment.”

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said the pardon actually “short-circuited” the legal problems of Estrada. “It’s now the President’s turn to explain why she had him prosecuted then pardoned. History will decide if the act is justified by circumstances,” he said.

“We like to thank Ms Arroyo for granting the pardon … [A]nd that is coming from the heart,” Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, the ousted leader’s son, said when interviewed from Geneva, Switzerland.

But the senator maintained that he still did not recognize the Arroyo presidency.

Sen. Joker Arroyo, who was part of the prosecution panel in Estrada’s impeachment trial, did not pose any more objection. “If the President pardons, nobody can question it. That’s one (presidential) power you can’t question,” he said.

License to break law

State prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, who led the prosecution panel, said it amounted to a license to break the law.

"A grant of a pardon to Mr. Estrada simply means that one can commit such a grave offense and yet evade punishment," he said in a petition filed before the pardon was announced.

"Here is a situation where after 6 1/2 years of work, they are racing to give pardon to the convict," Villa-Ignacio said, adding that his office will study the possibility of reversing Arroyo's order.

Others called it a cynical effort by Arroyo to draw attention away from her own alleged misdeeds and warned it could undermine efforts to stamp out official corruption.

Former President Fidel Ramos called the pardon "a terrible calamity to the great, great, great majority of the Filipino people who have suffered from the plunder."

Left-wing Rep. Teodoro Casiño said Ms Arroyo's move was an "opportunist political maneuver" meant to overshadow a string of corruption scandals rocking her administration.

Interior Secretary Puno said Ms Arroyo agonized over the decision, which was opposed by some Cabinet members, and even commissioned a private survey, which found that 80 percent of Filipinos wanted an end to Estrada's suffering.

"It was one of the most difficult decisions that she had to do," Puno said. With reports from Eliza Victoria, Inquirer Research; Gil C. Cabacungan, Dona Z. Pazzibugan, Kristine L. Alave and Alcuin Papa; and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas; Reuters and The Associated Press