Stay calm, Estrada tells supporters

Deposed President Joseph Estrada, facing arrest on a charge punishable by death, called on his supporters yesterday to stay calm and renounce violence in case he is jailed.

The disgraced leader, who turned 64 yesterday, said he was ready to submit himself to the law if served the arrest order, adding he had no intention of fleeing the country and becoming a fugitive.

"I am ready to face all the charges against me. I always submit myself to the rule of law," Estrada said in a radio interview.

Asked about reports that his rabid supporters threatened to march to Manila to foment civil unrest, Estrada said he was trying to dissuade them. "I am asking them to stay calm. I want to fight off these charges in a peaceful way."

Apart from plunder, Estrada was also facing seven other criminal charges, including pocketing over P400 million in bribes from illegal gambling operators and P189 million in kickbacks from the purchase by the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System of shares in the gaming firm Best World (BW) Resources, which is owned by his crony Dante Tan.

As defined by law, plunder involves the amassing of illegally acquired wealth surpassing the P50-million mark in connivance with other people.

Among those cited as co-accused of the former president were his wife, Dr. Luisa Ejercito, his son San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, and several close allies and cronies.

The once immensely popular former movie actor has insisted that he was innocent of the accusations against him.

The Office of the Ombudsman has accused Estrada of the capital offense of plunder which is non-bailable and punishable by death, as well as a number of corruption charges.

He spent his birthday yesterday visiting a blighted community in Taytay, Rizal in what critics said was an attempt to shore up his sagging popularity.

Supporters turned up in hordes to welcome him, tapping the windows of his car as they cried: "We are for Erap!"

He shared a lunch of boiled eggplant, shrimp, fried fish and rice with a number of children at an open basketball court in Barangay San Juan in Taytay.

Later in the day, Estrada and his entourage also visited another squatter colony at the Payatas dumpsite in Quezon City, as well as a squatters’ area in North Triangle, also in Quezon City, the Smokey Mountain in Tondo and a charitable association in Paco, both in Manila.

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto notified the Sandiganbayan on Tuesday that the prosecution has unilaterally withdrawn five of the graft cases so they could concentrate on the main case of plunder.

Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena rebuked the state prosecutors for the move, saying only the court had the authority to drop charges lodged before it.

Two officials of the Office of the Ombudsman allegedly committed a typographical error of omitting the phrase "former president" in one of the cases.

Legal experts said the omission may cause the dismissal of the case, prompting the Ombudsman to withdraw it altogether.

For his part, Estrada welcomed the withdrawal of some of the cases, and accused the prosecutors of turning the law into a circus.

He said the prosecution had rushed the charges to discredit him and his party candidates in the May 14 local and national elections, including his wife who is seeking a Senate seat under the banner of the coalesced opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Puwersa ng Masa.

The former president also protested the alleged indignities he suffered when the Sandiganbayan ordered him arrested over one of the graft cases.

"They did it to humiliate me. I was not given the courtesies due a former president. They wanted to show to the people that I was being treated like an ordinary criminal." – With reports from Nikko Dizon