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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Estrada ready to accept conviction
MANILA -– Deposed President Joseph Estrada is prepared to accept conviction from the Sandiganbayan Special Division on massive charges of corruption, a spokesman of the former leader said.
Estrada’s spokesman and Cagayan de Oro City Representative Rufus Rodriguez however stressed that the conviction has something to do with alleged political considerations over the former President’s P4.1-billion plunder case.
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“The President (Estrada) will accept a conviction. Although we believe it has political considerations. But the President will accept that, pending appeal. Anyway, we will appeal it to the Supreme Court (SC),” he said.
The Sandiganbayan will be handing down its decision on the plunder case against Estrada this Wednesday.
There will be no live coverage of Wednesday’s promulgation as Sandiganbayan on Monday turned down such request of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP).
Acquitted by the people
Rodriguez said the people have already acquitted Estrada after the separate victories of Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and former senator Luisa “Loi” Ejercito in the Senate.
“He (Estrada) has no plans to reclaim the presidency. And as he has said many times, he has already been acquitted by the people,” said Rodriguez.
The lawmaker added that: “An acquittal will just be a bonus. And if it is acquittal, it will be a vindication on his part. We see the hand of the (Arroyo) administration in influencing the Sandiganbayan.”
“So we have very clear paths, whether it will be conviction or acquittal. In both cases, there will be no destabilization attempts, no violence. If they go to the streets, then that is their constitutional right. But Estrada said it should be peaceful,” he stressed.
A lawyer for Estrada, Rene Saguisag, echoed the opinion of the former immigration commissioner.
Saguisag said the three-man Special Division of the Sandiganbayan is bound by SC pronouncements, supposedly rendered virtually nil any chance of an acquittal.
“The alignment of the stars is against us. Joseph Estrada’s fate was decided on January 20, 2001 when an overwhelming majority of the members of the SC went to Edsa to swear President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo into office,” Saguisag pointed out.
“The entire system is against us, the SC, the administration, the special division. The SC has already declared that President Estrada is an evil person; we don’t expect a lower court to tell the SC that it is wrong. Still, we are hoping against hope that the justices will see this case the way we see it,” he added.
Nevertheless, Saguisag said they are giving the present members of the high court a chance to rectify the errors in its previous rulings once the expected conviction verdict of the Sandiganbayan is brought before them on appeal.
Despite his predicament, Saguisag said, Estrada is buoyed by the continued support of the masses behind him and his family.
“Our only consolation is that every survey shows that the people believe in Estrada’s innocence. That’s our vindication,” Saguisag stressed.
Street protests
Meantime, Estrada supporters are planning to stage massive street protests on the day the Sandiganbayan will hand down its most awaited verdict on the detained leader’s plunder case.
Ver Eustaquio, head of the Union for Masses for Democracy and Justice (UMDJ), said at least 5,000 members of the various groups supporting Estrada will converge in front of the Centennial Building of the Sandiganbayan early on Wednesday.
Other groups will also be staging protests in San Juan, Mandaluyong, Makati, Caloocan, and Manila and urban centers nationwide.
Ferdie Ramos, Estrada’s media liaison officer, said the former President’s camp is not planning to launch any protests but will not discourage those who would do so.
Warning
Senator Francis Escudero, a close ally of Estrada, warned police and military officers deployed during the promulgation of the decision on the Estrada plunder case to exercise with prudence their role within the bounds of what their duties call for.
He reminded the police and military personnel to constantly put to mind the very reason for their presence in the event that Estrada supporters assemble to show support to the beleaguered President.
"Our law is clear on the presence of police during rallies and that is to protect rallyists and bystanders and not to intimidate them and curtail their right to exercise a peaceful assembly," he said.
Escudero issued this caution after about 6,000 policemen and soldiers were deployed two days before the Sandiganbayan promulgates the former President's perjury and plunder cases, in anticipation of possible troubles from Estrada supporters.
As chairman of the Senate committee on justice and human rights, Escudero said they "will go hard on any police or military personnel who will go beyond what is only called for by their duties."
He added that the committee will closely monitor the situation on Wednesday for any human rights violations from both sides of the rallyists and anti-riot policemen.
"We would like to remind everyone to initiate actions that protect and guarantee human rights as provided for and enshrined in the Constitution. Anyone who crosses this line will have to answer in our courts of law," the senator pointed out. (CPB/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (September 11, 2007 issue)
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