Erap Estrada kids Justice De Castro on his conviction for plunder

Former President Joseph Estrada on Thursday crossed paths anew with the magistrate who convicted him for plunder and sent him to prison almost a decade ago.

Under a totally different circumstance, Estrada and Supreme Court Associate Justice Teresita Leonardo-De Castro now managed to smile at each other and exchange a joke or two, during the Philippine Women Judges Association Convention at the Manila Hotel.

De Castro is the PWJA president, and Estrada was invited to deliver welcome remarks.

In introducing Estrada, De Castro, who headed the Sandiganbayan special division that found him guilty of plunder in September 2007, described the incumbent Manila mayor as a "quintessential gentleman, most kind-hearted, and the public servant most loved by the poor."

Estrada was quick to return the compliment, albeit in a humorous fashion.

"Associate Justice Teresita J. Leonardo de Castro, the justice who is responsible for my... never mind," said Estrada, eliciting laughter not only from De Castro but also from Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, who was in attendance, and from the audience of mostly women judges all over the country.

In his speech, Estrada recalled how De Castro was one of the three justices who heard the plunder case against him.

"Sabi ko nga noon, handa akong makulong kasi wala akong ninakaw sa gobyerno. Akalain niyo, kinulong nga ako," Estrada said.

"Si Ma'am naman, hindi na mabiro," he added.

Despite convicting him of plunder in 2007, De Castro ended up voting in Estrada's favor eight years later, when she wrote the SC majority decision that dismissed a disqualification case against him.

In the De Castro-penned ruling, the SC ruled that the pardon subsequently granted to Estrada by then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo restored his civil and political rights.

During his opening remarks, Estrada also went on to praise PWJA luminaries like De Castro for ensuring an independent and highly competent judiciary, showing that women are even better than most men.

Sereno, in a message she delivered right after Estrada's, recalled how Estrada has left his "indelible mark" on her.

"I have sat beside him in state functions twice. And I can attest to the fact that he has stories that he has regaled his seatmates with on how women should be loved," she said.

"I remember that being just so distracted during the state dinner that I could not forget those stories and how they wanted to believe he was ardent as he was telling me on how love is to be played up," Sereno added.

She ended: "I think until my dying days I will still be puzzled and I will always be mystified whether your stories were true or not." -NB, GMA News