Erap fears arrest if he goes to US

MANILA, Philippines – Linked as a recipient of sensitive information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that led to the conviction of two sending parties, deposed President Joseph Estrada is having second thoughts about going to the United States for a medical check-up on his repaired knees.

Estrada was particularly concerned about his being dragged anew into the case of former FBI intelligence analyst Leandro Aragoncillo and ex-police Chief Superintendent Michael Ray Aquino, both convicted last year by a US federal court on spying charges.

Estrada was among three former Philippine government officials who were implicated in the espionage case that sent Aquino and Aragoncillo to jail. The two others were Sen. Panfilo Lacson and ex-Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella.

Estrada again insisted he has not committed any crime as one of the recipients of supposed “classified” documents from the FBI, copies of which he said he even showed to two top Cabinet officials of President Arroyo.

Estrada claimed he showed the documents to National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales and former presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor on separate occasions when the two Arroyo Cabinet officials visited him while he was detained at his rest house in Tanay.

“So, there is nothing secret or confidential about it. Everything was done in good faith. What’s the crime there? All the information contained in those documents was all known to Filipinos who read our newspapers here,” Estrada pointed out.

To date though, Estrada said he has not received any official word about any formal charges being filed against him.

The former president is set to apply for renewal of his visa with the US Embassy in Manila, armed with a one-page letter from his personal physician, Dr. Christopher S. Mow, who performed the kneecap replacement surgery.

“My patient, Mr. Joseph Ejercito Estrada, is recommended to visit my clinic in Richmond, California, for check up and evaluation for a number of medical conditions. The orthopedic conditions will be overseen by myself, and the internal medical conditions will be supervised by Dr. Antonio Q. Chan,” Mow stated in his letter, dated March 28, and addressed to the US Consul/Inspector.

“Mr. Estrada is due to undergo extensive testing for orthopedic, heart, pulmonary, vascular and other conditions. Dr. Chan and I estimate that this testing will take anywhere from 7 to 14 days, depending on the results,” Mow cited.

“We respectfully request that Mr. Estrada be issued a visa in order for us to properly evaluate and treat his medical conditions,” Mow added.

Estrada disclosed he would want to go to the US by May but it will depend on whether the US embassy renews his visa or not.

The US embassy had previously denied the visa application of Estrada for the same medical reasons stated by Mow while the former president was still undergoing plunder trial at the Sandiganbayan and detained at his rest house in Tanay, Rizal.

Because of this, Estrada decided to have his knee surgery done in December 2003 in a hospital in Hong Kong, with Dr. Mow and his medical team flying there to do the procedure. Mow then had to fly to Manila every periodically to check on the condition and knee rehabilitation therapy of Estrada.

Estrada was convicted on plunder charges in September 2007 but President Arroyo granted him executive pardon in October.

Since he became a free man, Estrada’s first trip abroad was to Hong Kong on Jan. 27, 2008 where he stood as a wedding sponsor to a daughter of his Chinese- Filipino businessman friend Dante Go.

In Hong Kong, Estrada along with his wife, former First Lady and ex-senator Loi Ejercito, were detained at airport immigration for a few hours and questioned about his not bringing along any security escorts.

Interviewed in their home in Polk St. in Greenhills, San Juan, ex-senator Ejercito recalled how she and the members of their family were made to go through rigorous interviews by the US immigration authorities every time they went to the US. 

Estrada earlier expressed dismay that Aquino and Aragoncillo were penalized for the alleged “classified” FBI documents when he noted these were nothing but reports from Philippine newspapers culled by the US Embassy in Manila and sent to FBI in Washington D.C.

“I don’t have to read those ‘classified’ documents because I can just read them in The Philippine STAR. I did not realize how serious all Filipinos know the rampant corruption in government, all these anomalies in the government,” he pointed out.  

Estrada specifically felt sorry for Aragoncillo who he described has remained “Filipino at heart” despite having migrated and lived in the US for so many years. The former president recalled his first meeting with Aragoncillo during his state visit to the US where the latter worked as one of the Filipino staff of ex-President Bill Clinton at the White House.

“He (Aragoncillo) felt very bad about what was being done to me by this regime. So he tried to show his sympathy and gave me copies of how the US Embassy here in Manila looked at the way I was being treated,” Estrada said.

In the case of Aquino, Estrada said, the former police deputy of now Senator Lacson is one of the many “victims” of political harassment that followed his ouster from office during the EDSA 2 uprising in January 2001.

Estrada reiterated yesterday that the six-year jail term meted out to Aquino was “too harsh” a penalty when it merely involved documents that pertained to information of public knowledge.

Estrada said he informed the American defense counsel of Aquino, who flew to the Philippines in 2006 and visited him in Tanay to get his deposition, that he indeed got copies of purported “classified” FBI documents from Aragoncillo through e-mail sent to him by Aquino.

But since he does not know how to surf the Internet, Estrada clarified the e-mailed documents from Aragoncillo were merely downloaded materials from those sent to his e-mail by Aquino.

“I did not ask for it (documents). He (Aragoncillo) shared it with Michael Ray and Michael Ray shared it with Ping (Lacson). So what is our crime there?” Estrada said.

“I never hide anything and I’m very transparent,” he stressed in an apparent dig at the Arroyo administration.