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Sunday, September 30, 2007
Erap visits sick ma at hospital
MANILA – Deposed President Joseph Estrada was out on a 10-hour pass from house arrest on Saturday to visit his ailing mother at a hospital in San Juan town.
He was allowed to leave his sprawling countryside estate, where he is confined, for the first time since his plunder conviction two weeks ago, after the anti-graft court allowed visiting his sick mother.
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Estrada waved to journalists waiting for him at the hospital lobby, telling them the court instructed him not to make any statement to the press.
His 102-year-old mother is breathing through a respirator at the hospital where she has been for about two months.
Estrada's lawyer, Rene Saguisag, told the court his mother's condition had deteriorated because of an infection and unstable blood pressure.
Saguisag said the condition of Estrada's mother "had some kind of a chilling effect" on the ousted leader. "It seems he would have to make the decision to pull out the life-support or respiratory system which has been keeping their mother alive," Saguisag said.
The court handed down its guilty verdict on Sept. 12 and sentenced Estrada to life in prison. It also ordered him to forfeit a mansion and more than US$15.5 million (euro11.2 million), plus interest. The court, however, allowed Estrada to remain at his estate near Manila where he has been held for most of the six-year trial.
In a motion Wednesday asking the court to reconsider its verdict, lawyers for Estrada said he was "denied the constitutional presumption of innocence as the court convicted him on the basis of surmises, inferences and speculative evidence."
"There has been a mistrial - clear and incontrovertible, adequate to vacate the judgment of the court," the lawyers said.
The court ruled that Estrada was guilty of illegally amassing more than P50 million from illegal gambling payoffs and kickbacks from the sale of shares belonging to a private company.
Estrada's lawyers argued there was no evidence that he tolerated or protected illegal gambling. They said the allegation that he received a commission from the stock sale was based only on hearsay.
Estrada opted to seek reconsideration of the anti-graft’s decision and does not intend to apply for absolute pardon, his spokesman, Representative Rufus Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said Estrada never asked for pardon as the same was an “initiative of Malacañang.”
Talks between the Estrada camp and Malacañang’s emissary, Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, failed to yield results because the convicted leader wants to exhaust all legal remedies available to him, Rodriguez said. (AP/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (September 30, 2007 issue)
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