MANILA, Philippines -- Malacañang on Saturday appealed to pardoned former President Joseph Estrada to comply with the order of the Sandiganbayan regarding the forfeiture of his bank accounts and assets illegally acquired during his short-lived presidency.

But Secretary Cerge Remonde said Malacañang would not interfere with the process.

“We will leave that to the court. We have exercised this executive clemency but ultimately the implementation of the order of the court, that’s for the judiciary,” said Remonde.

Remonde said the pardon extended to Estrada on Oct. 25, following six years of detention, trial and conviction for plunder, only pertained to freeing him from the criminal aspect of the case.

“The pardon is silent about other things,” he said.

Asked if President Arroyo felt betrayed by Estrada, he said: “We have done our part. We hope that he also does his part … whatever that is.”

Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye, who announced the pardon, had said that although Estrada had been “restored to his civil and political rights,” the pardon stated that “The forfeitures imposed by the Sandiganbayan 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.”

Special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said yesterday Estrada’s move to quash the order of the Sandiganbayan to seize his property could be used as a ground to recall his pardon.

“Let the defense and Estrada make all of these pronouncements and moves. They’re providing the prosecution grounds to move for the recall of the pardon.”

Ignacio said the pardon was subject to certain conditions, including the fact that the forfeiture should proceed.

“It appears that he’s not accepting the terms and conditions of the pardon,” the special prosecutor said in an interview by phone.

Properties attached

Estrada, through his lawyers, filed a motion on Friday to quash the order of the antigraft court to hand over more than P700 million and a house and lot in New Manila, Quezon City, to the government.

They argued that the writs of execution included property not mentioned in the Sandiganbayan’s Sept. 12 decision.

The decision specified the P545,291,000 deposited in the Muslim Youth Foundation, the P189,700,000 deposited in the Jose Velarde account and the so-called Boracay Mansion as the subjects of forfeiture.

But in the writs, the court said other pieces of property that were disposable and not covered by the execution could be attached by the sheriff if Estrada could not pay all or part of his obligations.

This was an additional penalty on Estrada, his lawyers said.

Parola sortie

Estrada meanwhile, continued his visits to depressed areas in Manila yesterday, bringing his motorcade through the Parola compound in Tondo. He was accompanied by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim; his wife former Sen. Loi Ejercito, his son Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and others.

Estrada denied he was campaigning for the 2010 presidential election. He is not even running, he said.

The sorties, he said, were just his way of thanking his supporters.

When asked by reporters if he thought the charges of bribery against President Arroyo were true, Estrada said it would be up to the Senate to find out. Kung hindi pa sa Senado, wala na tayong pagasa malaman yan (If not for the Senate, we may never know the truth).”

President Arroyo, in a speech the day Estrada was freed, said she expected the grant of executive clemency to be “debated, welcomed, criticized and given all sorts of meanings and motives.”

“If I have shown concern for the personal circumstances of the former president, it is not a sign of diminished determination to see justice done. It is out of sensitivity to the feelings of the segments of our masa who continue to identify with his personal circumstances,” she said. With reports from TJ Burgonio and Beverly T. Natividad