Estrada ready to be arrested

Deposed President Joseph Estrada said yesterday he is ready to be arrested if charged with corruption, although he stressed he is appealing the Supreme Court ruling rejecting his claim to criminal immunity.

"But in my opinion, I have been convicted already in the newspapers and by the government Ombudsman and by Justice Secretary (Hernando) Perez," Estrada said.

The Supreme Court on March 3 voted 13-0 that Estrada was no longer president after the former movie star was ousted in a popular revolt on Jan. 20 and a majority of nine justices ruled he was not entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution.

The government wants to indict Estrada on eight criminal charges, at least three of which are for the capital crime of plunder.

But the SC issued an injunction on any indictment until March 22.

Once a case of plunder is filed in court, Estrada faces immediate arrest and detention. The offense is non-bailable.

Sources had disclosed government plans to incarcerate Estrada on an islet somewhere off Luzon as a security measure against anti-Estrada forces and Estrada loyalists who may help the ousted president escape.

Misamis Oriental Rep. Constantino Jaraulla has urged the Supreme Court to reverse its two rulings because the masses were on Estrada’s side.

Jaraulla said the SC should them re-evaluate the maxim salus populi suprema lex est (the welfare of the people is above all laws) which the High Court had invoked in upholding the Arroyo presidency.

Jaraulla expressed optimism that the justices only ruled in favor of the Arroyo administration out of fear of losing their jobs.

"The fear comes from the lesson of 1986 when President Cory Aquino was installed to the presidency... and proclaimed a revolutionary government with its own revolutionary constitution," he said.

Jaraulla said the SC had no option but to recognize the Arroyo administration.

"Otherwise, a revolutionary government might have been installed which could have led to the dissolution of the Supreme Court and Congress and rendered the members thereof jobless," he stressed.

Estrada lawyers are ‘amused’

Estrada, for his part, said his lawyers are amused by the Supreme Court’s precedent-setting decision.

"My lawyers are amused because this is the first time in legal history that this has happened," Estrada said.

Estrada stressed he never said he wanted to resign nor did he officially sign a resignation letter, adding he left the Presidential Palace at the height of the military-backed civilian uprising to avoid bloodshed.

But anti-Estrada groups are urging the SC to sustain its rulings on the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration and Estrada’s non-entitlement to alleged criminal immunity.

"The SC should not retract from its decision and allow justice to take its normal course," said Satur Ocampo, president of the party-list group Bayan Muna .

Ocampo slammed Estrada and his lawyers for mocking the judicial system by inciting people to be contemptuous of the high tribunal.

"We owe it to the Filipino people to prosecute those who commit crimes," said Jose Rufino, executive director of the ruling Lakas-NUCD-UMDP party.

Rufino stressed that the charges that are being prepared against Estrada are based on the testimony of former friends who were personally involved in various allegedly illegal transactions.

"It is clear that the opposition would not want their leader Estrada arrested to pay for his crimes. Thus, they are using every trick in the book to prevent his arrest," Rufino added.

Meanwhile, Mindoro Rep. Ricardo Quintos caused a stir at the domestic airport yesterday after he claimed in a radio interview that Estrada had been barred from flying to Mindoro.

But it turned out that Estrada was not the only one who was prevented from taking off from the domestic airport because of an air parade being held at the nearby Villamor Air Force Base. Three helicopters, one carrying Estrada, was supposed to take off for Mindoro at 9:30 a.m. but was delayed for two hours because of a testimonial air parade for outgoing Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes.

"It was not only the helicopter carrying Estrada but all other aircraft at the time the air show was being conducted," said Air Transportation Office head Anacleto Venturina.

The confusion Quintos caused, however, caused airport officials in Davao City to tighten security for fear that Estrada may attempt to exit the country in violation of hold-departure orders against him and some members of his family. - Sandy Araneta, Rey Arquiza, Edith Regalado