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Senior police commanders were due to meet sheriffs from the Sandiganbayan to plan the operation to secure the 64 year-old defendant, said by police to be a possible target for assassination. The July 10 court appearance will be the second for Estrada, who refused to enter a plea two weeks ago when he was arraigned on the lesser charge of perjury. This time he will be asked to answer a charge that he plundered a personal fortune of P4 billion while in office, as well as used an alias to hide his ownership of a bank account. The first charge, defined as large-scale corruption, is punishable by death under a tough justice law that took effect in 1994. Estrada approved the execution of seven death row convicts under the code in 1999. His successor, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, has said she does not oppose the death penalty being on
the statute books. However, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez has ruled out any
executions taking place while she is in power. The revolt began after
Estrada's impeachment trial in the on charges of corruption and abuse of office
collapsed. "We do not anticipate a very smooth proceeding because we actually
expect the accused to delay the proceedings," said Ombudsman Aniano Desierto.
"This has been the consistent policy of the defense," he added, predicting the
defense team would argue there were still Court sheriff Edgardo
Urieta told reporters the justices had not given the green light for the
activation of a security plan. During last month's arraignment in the perjury
case, police mobilized more than 5,000 personnel for security and crowd Estrada and his son Jinggoy, a co-defendant, are being detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC). Desierto said that once Estrada had been brought before the court, lawyers for both sides would start the process of planning a trial timetable. Estrada's lawyer Raymond
Fortun was coy about the defense's intentions. Court officials said Justice Anacleto Badoy, head of the division handling the plunder case, was expected to issue two rulings, one on a defense motion to disqualify him from presiding over the trial and a second to throw out the plunder charge. Fortun said there were "a
lot of ambiguities in the law" and therefore his client could not be forced to
enter a plea. He said the team was hoping their motion to throw out the case
"would be resolved in time for the arraignment." (SNS) Wearing casual clothes, the 64-year-old Estrada boarded a The police and military staged a massive operation to secure his mansion from hundreds of stone-throwing supporters as a police helicopter hovered overhead. Estrada was not handcuffed like other capital crime suspects
as he was whisked into the van. Several hundred special police forces armed with assault
rifles surrounded the vehicle as it crawled out of the gated Deposed in a popular revolt three months ago, Estrada became the first former Filipino president to be thrown in jail. He is accused of using his position and influence to amass illegal wealth worth P4 billion. His son, San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, was also detained
on the same charge, and the court ordered the arrest of seven other defendants. Riot police armed with clubs earlier swiftly quelled a riot by hundreds of rock-throwing Estrada supporters outside his home. Angry supporters chanted Estrada's name and shook clenched fists at the police. Some were slumped on the sidewalk in despair as the police convoy left. After his arrest, Estrada said in his first public statement he would face accusations against him and "truth will triumph in the end." "They continue to harass me, my family, my friends and the witnesses for me... I will face all these charges... I know that truth will triumph in the end, our Constitution will prevail," Estrada said. Estrada "will have a cell of his own," said Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena. Economic plunder is punishable by death and bail is not allowed if the evidence is strong. The court has yet to set his arraignment date. Garchitorena said Estrada has the option to file a bail petition after arraignment. The granting of bail will depend on the strength of the
prosecution's evidence, Garchitorena added. "No bail is fixed for the provisional liberty of the accused
for the reason that the penalty imposable for the offense of Estrada was arrested earlier this month on a lesser corruption charge but he swiftly posted bail and was freed. Estrada denied any wrongdoing, and accused his successor and rival President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of bullying the judiciary to cause his arrest and deny him due process. His lawyer Raymond Fortun swiftly filed a motion with the court to have his client placed under house arrest instead. The Sandiganbayan had ordered his arrest shortly before noon April 25 to complete the his humiliation. "We have shown that justice is working in the Philippines," President Arroyo's spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao told reporters. "We consider this a historic moment. We showed that even the former highest official of the land could held answerable for his action." Tiglao said Estrada's arrest would have a favorable effect on to the investment climate, which had been depressed by a massive corruption scandal that led to his ouster. (SNS)
A small riot broke out in front of Estrada's mansion as hundreds of die-hards tried to keep police from serving the arrest warrant but the riot police pushed the ex-president's supporters aside, sending many of them fleeing. The rallyists, including middle-aged women and street toughs, had hurled stones and scrap wood at the riot police but in the end proved only a minor obstacle. Three police helicopters flew overhead and hundreds of more
policemen, backed by marines were ready to back up the riot police in case a major riot broke out. But their intervention proved unnecessary as the helmeted, The Estrada partisans had originally hoped to block entry into the North Greenhills gated community where the former president resides, in a last-ditch attempt to prevent his arrest. At one gate, about 100 loyalists hurled stones at riot
police, prompting them to use a water cannon and a baton charge to disperse the crowd. About 200 supporters, who had been waiting outside North Greenhills had clustered around the residence of Estrada and his family, but could not prevent Philippine National Police (PNP) chief DirectorGeneral Leandro Mendoza from serving the warrant. The violence came despite commitments by Estrada's lawyers that he would surrender himself peacefully once the arrest warrant had been issued. Some of Estrada loyalists openly wept as it became clear they were helpless to prevent his arrest. The remnants of his followers shouted "liars" and "unfair" to journalists at the scene, apparently alluding to Estrada's charge that he was convicted by a biased media. Police had earlier deployed about 6,000 men to handle any
disturbance but stressed they would handle the situation with "maximum tolerance." The pro-Estrada crowd, mostly from the urban poor, had set up a virtual shanty town at the edge of North Greenhills, an enclave of the very wealthy in a Manila suburb, a week ago when indications first surfaced that Estrada was facing jail. A small group stayed for days, cooking in makeshift fires and using portable toilets. A larger group of Estrada partisans returned every morning, at one point swelling to as many as 6,000. Estrada denied he had called for the assembly but defended the action, saying his followers had the right to gather just as millions had assembled on Manila streets in January in the popular uprising in which he was toppled. But after the arrest, the Estrada loyalists still maintaining their vigil had dwindled to about 400, police said. (SNS)
Special jail cell for Estrada at Crame The authorities opted to detain the 64-year-old Estrada in Camp Crame rather than a common jail while he awaits his arraignment on the capital charge of plunder. The Sandiganbayan has earlier ordered Estrada's arrest and
jailing on charges of plunder -- massive corruption -- totalling P4 billion. Police have been instructed not to give "special treatment" to Estrada at Camp Crame, where political dissidents were jailed during the martial law years of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The sprawling camp sits alongside the main Manila highway of Edsa, where hundreds of thousands of protesters massed in a military-backed popular revolt that forced Estrada out of office in January. Authorities had been in a dilemma over where to detain Estrada, caught between demands by activists and the powerful Catholic church to treat him as a common criminal and pleas from his lawyers who claimed he could be harmed in a city jail. At least four special cells had been prepared for Estrada, two of which were outside Manila and reportedly equipped with an air-conditioning unit, soft beds, clean bathrooms, an exercise area and a corner table where the deposed leader could write his memoirs. The Sandiganbayan had said that according to its rules,
Estrada should be jailed in the nearest city jail -- in the crowded suburban Quezon city, where gang riots are regular and
where some inmates sleep on bare concrete. Another lawyer said the defense team would file a motion with the court to place their client under house arrest in his San Juan mansion. Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina said Estrada would receive "courtesy and respect" once jailed, arguing it was in the government's best interest to secure his safety in detention. "If something happens to him, the government will be blamed. There might be some show-off or someone who wants to make history who would try to harm the former president," Lina said. But the influential church had criticized the proposed special prison treatment for Estrada, who has denied any wrongdoing. "Treat other prisoners like Estrada or treat Estrada like other prisoners," the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said. All prisoners should get special treatment such as air-conditioned cells, or else Estrada should be made to suffer "the hellish conditions that ordinary inmates endure everyday," it argued. (SNS)
No orange prisoner's uniform, no haircut for Estrada According to reports, Estrada will be spared from this treatment accorded to common criminals, until after he is convicted in the economic plunder case he is facing at the Sandiganbayan. As with other accused criminals, Estrada will enjoy conjugal visits from his legal wife and ordinary visits from families and friends. But he will not be allowed to use a cellular phone while under detention. In a related development, lawyer Raymund Fortun has filed an urgent motion with the Sandiganbayan's third division asking for a house arrest for Estrada in lieu of the prison cell in Camp Crame. Fortun cited three bases for the motion, including the preservation of the dignity of a former chief executive; protection of the accused; and to calm down the emotion of Estrada supporters. San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada is also included in the appeal, being one of the co-respondents in the plunder charges Estrada is facing. (SNS)
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