Erap seeks another furlough

Former President Joseph Estrada asked yesterday the Special Division of the Sandiganbayan to grant him another permit to visit his ailing 102-year-old mother this coming weekend.

He made the request a day after he visited his mother and shared a hearty lunch of pinangat na kanduli , which he cooked himself, and lechon at her house in Greenhills, San Juan.

Estrada, 69, did not seek a three-day furlough as he did in his earlier request. The prosecution panel opposed his previous request for a three-day pass but agreed to a one-day visit to his mother, Doña Mary Ejercito.

In a two-page motion filed through his lawyer Rene Saguisag, Estrada asked the graft court to allow him to visit his mother’s house on Kennedy Street, Greenhills on Nov. 11 and then return the next day to his resthouse in Tanay, Rizal where he is being detained while under trial for charges of plunder and perjury at the Sandiganbayan.

While asking for another weekend liberty pass, Estrada expressed gratitude to the court, the prosecution panel and the Philippine National Police for allowing him to spend nine hours with his mother last Monday.

"Accused Joseph Ejercito Estrada, by counsel, most respectfully thanks this Honorable Court, the prosecution, and the PNP for his visit yesterday to his mother, who, he saw, really seems to be in a very bad way, and to put it bluntly, every visit to her may be his last time to see her in this vale of tears, so that he hopes that he may again be allowed to see his mother on Saturday, Nov. 11-12, with an overnight stay in Greenhills," Saguisag said in his motion.

It can be recalled that the court had agreed to grant Estrada permission to visit his mother on weekends provided that he properly inform the court about each visit and formally ask the court’s permission for each visit.

And while prominent opposition figures were seen at what was supposed to be a private affair, Saguisag was quick to defend his client.

"This (visitors) cannot be avoided. He could not very well have a siesta without sounding sort of rude for not meeting his visitors," Saguisag said.