Slay plot serious but Estrada's unfazed

Defying alleged "serious" threats to his life, President Estrada said yesterday there would be no changes in his plans.

"I still go where I need to go," the President said without elaborating.

He was apparently referring to his sortie to the Visayas starting today until Sunday.

"It looks serious because it came from an intelligence report of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA)," Mr. Estrada said in a radio interview.

He said the National Bureau of Investigation and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are already looking into the veracity of the assassination plot allegedly hatched by the communist New People's Army.

Security at Malacañang has been tightened following news reports that a special communist hit squad was out to implement the plot.

Mr. Estrada clarified that the report he received from the NICA did not say his purported assassin is a reporter, but somebody posing as a journalist.

The Chief Executive flies today to Tacloban City, Western Samar and Cebu for the first leg of his regional visits. Tomorrow, he will go to Ormoc City in Leyte province and then to Tagbilaran City in Bohol on Saturday.

On Sunday, he will fly to Cebu where he would lead inaugural rites for a number of government projects, then fly back to Manila in the afternoon.

First Lady Dr. Luisa Ejercito Estrada also vowed to pursue her humanitarian work despite the reported assassination plot against her husband.

Mrs. Estrada said she was used to the threats, adding that previous presidents must have gone through the same experience.

"I'm sure the President will be taken good care of by his security escorts, and especially God, because He knows the intention of the President is for the country's progress and to help the poor," Mrs. Estrada said in a statement.

She said she always prays for the President's well-being and it is up to his escorts to beef up security to protect him.

For her part, she said she was sure no one is out to do her harm.

She said she will continue her medical and relief missions in far-flung areas under the Erap Partnerships for the Poor Foundation (EPPFI) which she heads.

EPPFI is supported by the Fort Bonifacio Development Corp., the PLDT Foundation and Smart Communications.

The First Lady is scheduled to conduct medical and relief missions in Benguet province next week.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Fernando Barican said Col. Rodulfo Diaz, chief of the Presidential Security Group, has belied reports that members of his command have arrested a suspected presidential assassin last Tuesday afternoon at the Liberty Center carpark on Shaw Boulevard in Pasig City.

"Nobody was arrested. Nobody was being detained. The story is simply untrue," Barican told reporters.-- Marichu Villanueva, AFP