Sandigan: Estrada can’t go home

The Sandiganbayan turned down yesterday ousted President Joseph Estrada’s plea to be allowed to go home after he spent a miserable first night in prison.

This developed as the Philippine National Police (PNP) sought a court order for the transfer of Estrada to a prison especially made for him in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

The anti-graft court handling Estrada’s case for economic plunder, a crime punishable by death, heard his formal petition to be placed under house arrest.

But it ordered him and government lawyers to submit written arguments by Wednesday, which means he will have to remain in jail at least until May 2.

The court also set a hearing today on a separate petition to dismiss the charge that Estrada illegally amassed hundreds of millions of pesos in kickbacks and payoffs during his 31 months in office.

It will also hear the police plea to move Estrada to a more secure prison in Laguna.

Estrada’s lawyers said the former President was buoyed by reports that some 2,000 protesters held an all-night vigil for him at the EDSA Shrine, the same spot where protesters seeking his ouster gathered in January.

"He was very happy when he woke up," lawyer Cleofe Verzola told dzRH radio station. She said Estrada was listening to radio reports of protests sparked by his arrest since he was not permitted to have a television or a mobile phone in his cell.

In a statement he issued from his prison cell, Estrada expressed appreciation to his supporters, saying he wanted their protest at EDSA to remain peaceful.

"Don’t worry about me," he said in Filipino. "My body and spirit remain strong, so is my belief that truth will prevail in the end." He vowed to answer all charges against him and prove his innocence.

His lawyers urged the court yesterday to "show compassion" and allow Estrada to return to his mansion at the posh North Greenhills subdivision in San Juan where police served the Sandiganbayan’s arrest order on him last Wednesday.

The lawyers expressed concern that he could be put in accidental contact with the other inmates, who include drug dealers and an alleged Muslim terrorist. They added that police officers with an ax to grind against Estrada may take advantage of his imprisonment to inflict harm on him.

One of Estrada’s lawyers, Raymund Fortun, said a number of police officers, including Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, have filed charges against the former leader.

"Because of his serious war against enemies of the government and on the scalawags in government, particularly in the police and the military, these officials who are now in power may inflict harm on him," he said.

Another Estrada lawyer, Jose Flaminiano, said even the Japanese war criminal Tomoyuki Yamashita, executed in the country after World War II, was "accorded special status" by the United States forces after liberation.

Prosecutor Robert Kallos countered, however, that the Camp Crame jail was the "best place" to hold Estrada. "It is only the police and the military who could give full security and safety to Estrada," he said.

Kallos added that Estrada will never be harmed by common criminals since many of them still consider him their "idol," being a former movie star who took on roles that defended the poor and the afflicted.

"Estrada is an idol of practically almost all inmates and they will be happy to be with him," he said.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza, meanwhile, said they are seeking a court order to move Estrada and his son, San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, to a prison at Fort Sto. Domingo, a police special force training camp in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Mendoza argued Estrada’s cell at Camp Crame was located "just a stone’s throw away from the municipality of San Juan" where Estrada enjoys a massive support base.

He said the former president "still maintains a sizable following who could cause unnecessary disruption of the day-to-day business" at Camp Crame, which houses the PNP headquarters.

Some 15,000 Estrada supporters continued to gather yesterday at the EDSA Shrine to protest his arrest.

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena said no bail petitions would be entertained until after Estrada is arraigned. The date of the arraignment has yet to be set.