Former president Joseph Estrada Tuesday returned to the Malacanang presidential palace for the first time since he was forced to step down from power nine years ago. Estrada was invited by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to attend a high-level security meeting with other top officials on how to ensure the holding of clean and credible elections this May. Arroyo also invited former president Fidel Ramos, the other surviving former president, but Ramos did not show up for still unexplained reason. Upon setting foot on his former official residence, Estrada told reporters that Malacanang will be his “destiny” six months from now, although he placed only third in the latest popularity survey of presidential candidates this year. Estrada is seeking to reclaim the presidency despite a constitutional ban on presidents seeking reelection. The former president said he was glad to return to Malacanang and confer with Arroyo, who was his social welfare secretary during his time in the Palace from 2000 to January 2001. Tuesday's meeting was the first time Arroyo and Estrada sat beside each other inside Malacanang since Arroyo succeeded him as president in 2001. Estrada noted that he was returning to Malacanang “exactly” nine years after he was forced to relinquish the presidency.
