see Victor Jose Tan Uy v. Office of the Ombudsman et al., G.R. No. 156399-400, June 27, 2008). Because of his incumbency as president and the inherent immunity from suit that went with that incumbency, the Ombudsman did not proceed with its investigation of the complaints. It was only after President Estrada had been stripped of his immunity, as a result of his (implied) resignation from office on January 20, 2001, that the Ombudsman acted upon the complaints. On January 22, 2001, a mere two days after his resignation, President Estrada, now without presidential immunity, was ordered by the Ombudsman to file his counter-affidavit in answer to the complaints filed against him. On September 12, 2007, former President Joseph E. Estrada was found guilty of Plunder in Criminal Case No. 26558 by the Sandiganbayan Special Division and sentenced to reclusión perpetua. On October 25, 2007, President Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive clemency to Estrada. The pardon took effect the next day when Estrada accepted the pardon on October 26, 2007, at 3:35 pm. For his participation and contribution in these historic events, he was commended by the multi-sectoral Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL II) in 2001. The Estrada libel charge Dennis Funa is the only Philippine lawyer ever to be charged for libel by a Philippine President. Funa was charged for libel, together with former beauty queen Joelle Pelaez, news reporter Christine Herrera, newspaper Editor-in-Chief Jojo Robles, and newspaper publisher Teodoro Locsin Jr., by former Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada in a Complaint-Affidavit dated August 2, 2006 filed before the Provincial Prosecutor of Rizal. Estrada demanded 30 million pesos in damages. The libel charge emanated from a five-part investigative report appearing in the Manila Standard Today, a general circulation newspaper in the Philippines. The news series purportedly narrated allegations of money-laundering by some Philippine government officials. Funa was quoted in one interview stating: "The commercial transaction of this magnitude could not have been consummated without the knowledge of the highest officials at the time. We must take note that the commercial transaction occurred sometime in March and mid-2000 and were perfected just before the start of the impeachment proceedings." Funa was then representing as legal counsel Joelle Pelaez, a beauty titlist being romantically linked at that time to the former president, a story Estrada has denied. When the libel complaint was filed, former President Estrada was being detained in his resthouse in