Estrada’s detention at Crame pressed

They want him back behind bars.

Government prosecutors said yesterday they want deposed President Joseph Estrada transferred back to his detention cell at Camp Crame in Quezon City because he is already "physically fit" to attend the twice-a-week trial at the Sandiganbayan and is no longer complaining of any illness.

"We have observed that he is already fit to stand trial, so there’s no need for him to stay at the hospital (Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City). There is no more ground for his confinement," special prosecutor John Turalba said. "He has not complained of any ailment. That’s why we want him transferred."

Turalba, along with his colleagues Antonio Manzano, Ray Olaguer and Humphrey Monteroso, said Estrada’s new lawyer, Alan Paguia, has even manifested in court that his client now wants to attend the hearings every Monday and Wednesday after proceedings resume on June 30.

"(Estrada’s) lawyer has even been insisting that he should attend the trial twice a week... in fact, he is claiming he is still the president," Turalba said. "It’s time to return him where he belongs."

Once the prosecutors’ motion, a "reiteration" of an earlier plea, is approved, Estrada would join his personal lawyer and co-accused in the plunder case, Edward Serapio, who is detained at the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) compound, built during Estrada’s tenure.

Prosecutors also said Estrada’s hospital stay is costly. They said security procedures for bringing Estrada to court are "circuitous," because security preparations must still be coursed through Sandiganbayan Sheriff Ed Urieta to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and vice-versa.

The government prosecutors said Estrada can no longer be brought to his original detention cell at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. The cell once occupied by Estrada there now holds former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor and ex-chief of the Moro National Liberation Front Nur Misuari, who faces rebellion charges for attacking an Army camp in Zamboanga City in November 2001.

The VMMC management earlier complained that the PNP owes them P20 million for electricity bills racked up since Estrada’s detention there in May 2001. The state-run hospital is seeking a similar amount as budget for Estrada’s accommodations for 2003.

Asked whether they would risk an Estrada jailbreak since many policemen are still loyal to the ousted leader and Sen. Panfilo Lacson, whom Estrada appointed PNP chief during his 30-month stay in office, the prosecutors said they have "anticipated everything."

It will be recalled that Pentagon gang leader Faisal Marohombsar escaped from the PAOCTF detention center just before he was killed in an encounter with pursuing police and military personnel in Cavite last year.

President Arroyo earlier denounced as "pure harassment" a bid by Estrada to put her on the witness stand. She said the move was part of his legal strategy to win acquittal from the plunder, illegal use of alias and perjury charges filed against him before the Sandiganbayan.

The graft court has set a hearing Monday on his formal motion to call Mrs. Arroyo, Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes and four Supreme Court justices to the witness stand.

Estrada’s unorthodox legal strategy to be acquitted on charges he plundered a personal fortune of $80 million is based on an assertion that he was illegally toppled by a January 2001 military coup abetted by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court has already ruled that the fast-tracked presidential succession was legal.

Estrada insists he cannot be sued because he remains the legal president. The plunder charge is theoretically punishable by death.