Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said on Friday that national unity was eyed when she decided to grant pardon to convicted former president Joseph Estrada, who was previously sentenced to life imprisonment for plunder.
In a televised speech addressing the Philippine Business Conference in Manila, Arroyo said her decision, though expected to be much debated, was good for Filipino people at large.
She said the pardon will bring "peace, economic progress and reconciliation" and curb "argumentation and political division."
Arroyo also stressed that it has been her administration's lasting policy to forgive inmates who are 70 years old or above. She invoked Estrada's wish to be with his ailing 102-year-old mother, Mary Ejercito, in San Juan Medical Center in Metro Manila.
"It is time to release him. It is time for him to be at the bedside of his dying mother," Arroyo said.
Three days after Estrada submitted request for pardon, Arroyo on Thursday granted clemency to the 70-year-old former president, who was found guilt of amassing assets worthy of 4 billion pesos ( about 86 million U.S. dollars) during his presidency from 1998 to 2001.
Source: Xinhua
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