THOSE of us who continue to believe in the innocence of President Joseph "Erap" Estrada, despite his conviction by the Sandiganbayan, are very much elated by the pardon given to him by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

To us, it reinforced our belief in the innocence of Erap because if he were really guilty, the President would not have readily granted him pardon.

We also believe in the sound advice of his lawyers (congratulations to former Sen. Rene Saguisag and Jose Flaminiano and the others!) to accept the pardon because history tells us that special courts are always created to convict, never to exonerate, much less to determine the innocence of an accused. Andres Bonifacio, the Katipunan supremo, was sentenced to death after a very short "trial." Justice Jose Abad Santos was decapitated by the Japanese in World War II because he would not follow the propaganda line of the invaders.

Like what happened to them, history will one day ultimately vindicate President Estrada because truth always comes out, however delayed.

I am certain that after more than six years of incarceration Erap has become a better man. When he was at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center where he was confined in a two-room cottage, I used to visit him. I learned that he never partook of liquors while in confinement and that every Sunday he attended Bible classes he organized and masses with friends who came to visit him.

If his detractors keep on hitting (or hating?) him, I will be one of the many who will suggest that he run for the presidency so that the entire Filipino nation will ultimately be the judge of his innocence or guilt. If he will not run for president, I will suggest that he support actively a presidential candidate to gauge the trust he still has among the masses he loves.--DR. OMBRA REY A. TAMANO, MNSA, via e-mail