(Updated) Pardon given in deference to the masses - Arroyo

(Updated 3:30 p.m.) President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday said she decided to grant executive clemency to former President Joseph Estrada in deference to the Filipino masses who closely identify with the former leader. In a speech delivered during the Philippine Business Conference, President Arroyo said the pardon grant was made in pursuit of national unity and advancement, saying this is beneficial for the majority of the Filipino people. “National unity and advancement, along with the rule of law, justice and accountability have guided our decisions and positions taken in the Estrada case until today," President Arroyo said. “If I have showed 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 added. Mrs Arroyo also belied claims that the pardon was for her political survival, and said the move to pardon Estrada was not made in spite of the Sandiganbayan’s guilty verdict against the former President. “We braved a backlash from the masses when we enforced the Sandiganbayan arrest order in April 2001. We never wavered in respecting and following the edicts of the court in the past six and a half years, whatever the political cost," President Arroyo said. “For the whole time that I have served as President, the issues surrounding former President Estrada’s trial and detention constituted the single most significant cause of political noise and controversy in the national firmament. Although such noise and controversy have largely failed to derail the overall course of our administration, it has been a cause of distraction, recrimination and intrigue," Mrs Arroyo said. “This is a period of Constitutional healing. The wisdom of the law enables the President to exercise the power of pardon. The system of justice is working. I am using the law for what I see in my best lights as the good of the greater number," Arroyo said. In her speech, the President cited similar cases abroad where former leaders were granted pardon. “President Nixon was pardoned before conviction. President Estrada has been in detention for six and a half years," President Arroyo said. “The former Presidents of Korea were released after spending two years in detention. They were granted a special pardon by President Kim Dae-jung to help reconcile a country torn apart and enable it to focus on repairing the economy hit by the Asian financial crisis," she added. On Thursday, Arroyo granted executive clemency to Estrada, whom she helped oust from power in 2001 despite opposition from various sectors including government prosecutors who pursued the plunder case against the deposed leader. Mrs Arroyo's decision in effect extinguished Estrada's criminal liability, and left for naught six year's worth of trial work by public and private prosecutors. The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan found Estrada guilty of plunder only last Sept. 12, and sentenced him to up to 40 years in prison. - GMANews.TV