ESTELITO MENDOZA — U.P COLLEGE OF LAW

ESTELITO P. MENDOZA, who gained a reputation of defending high-profile and controversial clients including convicted former President Joseph E. Estrada, has died. He was 95.

His death was announced by Philippine National Bank, where he had been a director since 2009, in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Mr. Mendoza served under the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, Sr. as solicitor general from 1972 to 1986 and was his Justice minister from 1984 to 1986 before the strongman’s ouster by a popular street uprising.

Mr. Mendoza, who was called the “Attorney of Last Resort” during his long career as a defense lawyer, had been tapped to represent Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio in her three lawsuits before the Supreme Court over P125 million in confidential funds she received in 2022.

“Estelito Mendoza can be considered as the archetype of the classic Filipino lawyer,” Jeremy Benigno Gatdula, dean of the University of Asia and the Pacific College of Law, told BusinessWorld via Facebook Messenger.

“He has served his clients and his country to a level of excellence difficult to match in any other era or circumstance,” he said. “Estelito Mendoza was a gentleman of high personality, wit and true love for the law, which I believe is something that all Filipino lawyers should aspire to.”

Mr. Mendoza served as chief lawyer for Joseph “Erap” Estrada during his impeachment trial, which culminated in his ouster by a popular street uprising in 2001.

He also lawyered for the dictator, his wife Imelda and their business associates Lucio C. Tan and the late Roberto V. Ongpin and Eduardo “Danding” M. Cojuangco, Jr. in various cases for sequestered assets.

Mr. Mendoza also advocated for the late Fernando Poe, Jr., who run for President in 2004, when his citizenship was questioned before the Supreme Court. He also successfully defended ex-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her plunder case before the High Court.

Mr. Mendoza also got before the Supreme Court a bail for plunder defendant former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile in connection with a multibillion-peso pork barrel scam. At the anti-graft court Sandiganbayan, the lawyer got Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla, Jr. acquitted of plunder for the same pork barrel case.

“He was one of the seasoned lawyers,” National Union of People’s Lawyers President Ephraim B. Cortez said in a Viber message. “Of course, we cannot but remember that he was part of the martial law government of Marcos, and that he never severed that relationship.”

“He defended Imelda Marcos and the other members of the Marcos family, and his choices of clients showed that human rights were far from his radar. He was never involved in human rights advocacy. He represented clients with a questionable human rights record.” — Norman P. Aquino and Chloe Mari A. Hufana