Here is a man who used to rule this country. He also happens to be FPJ's good friend, sending him and his cronies straight back into power should FPJ win.

"We suspect they are really going to disqualify him before the Supreme Court," he said. "I'm warning them not to do that, lest there will be civil war, revolution or massive civil disobedience," Estrada said.

He said he was praying this won't happen to the country. "I hope this will not come to pass. But there's no stopping FPJ from becoming President," he said.

This kind of chest-thumping flamboyance would normally cost a candidate his campaign, but it's exactly this kind of triumphalist machismo that got Erap into power, and so FPJ.

You see, that's the problem with the framers of our Constitution: they never saw FPJ running for president:

They cited Section 4, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution which states, "The Supreme Court, sitting en banc, shall be the sole judge of all contests relating to the election, returns and qualifications of the President or Vice President, and may promulgate its rule for the purpose."

"We will discuss how this will affect the case pending before us because that I do not want to happen -- I'm not preempting the position of the Comelec -- but I don't want that the Supreme Court and the Comelec will have different positions. It is practically the same issue," Abalos said.

Of course, no one thought the same about Erap too. And no one thought that the Comelec, not long ago a bastion of campaign chicanery, would be put in a position to actually determine who will win the elections (if FPJ is a sure winner). Angara and Sotto has part of the blame for this legal mess, but they know what they're doing. Good lawyers are on both sides:

Meanwhile, an official of the Freedom Peace and Justice (FPJ) movement yesterday said they will ask the SC this week to disbar lawyers Victorino and Andresito Fornier.

Julius Raboca said that under the law "any person who shall knowingly offer in evidence a false witness or testimony in any judicial or official proceeding" are liable for the offense.

It's inherently our problem: no one is afraid of the laws of the land anymore, partly because of the people who are not trustworthy enough to enforce them, and those that flaunt the fact that they are above it. Yet, this is a new breed. Not since Erap's trial has a consciousness of Philippine law and procedures been at such a high awareness among so many -- and how flimsy and flexible it can be made out to be.

Remember, Miriam is a lawyer too. Not to mention a member of the Y.