Press Release
October 25, 2007

Noynoy on Erap's Pardon

"On a personal level, being President Estrada's friend, I am glad that he is regaining his freedom, especially given his advanced age and his mother's ailing condition, which he can now attend to."

"I am perplexed by the statement released by Secretary Bunye. If they truly believe that President Estrada committed a crime, why is there no condition for either an admission of guilt or an apology for the crime committed by President Estrada? If this were done, it would have mollified the objections of those opposed to the granting of this pardon. The only emphasis seems to be on forfeiture of monies or properties. One can't help but wonder whether these monies are being earmarked for projects similar to the Northrail and the ZTE projects."

"This morning, they announced the conduct of a survey on whether or not to grant President Estrada a pardon. This afternoon, they are granting the pardon that they were supposed to be studying as to whether or not to grant. Is there not undue haste on what was supposed to have been studied meticulously?"

"Is there any connection with the revelations from today's hearing on the ZTE broadband deal and the decision to make the pardon effective today? It seems the administration is seeking to divert attention from disclosures implicating President Arroyo, the First Gentleman and some of their allies by instead creating headlines on a pardon for Erap?"

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