Estrada praying for speedy trial, acquittal

Former President Joseph Estrada appeared at the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City yesterday morning for a hearing related to his upcoming perjury trial, one which he prays would be speedy and fair and will result in his acquittal.

The deposed president, accompanied by wife Sen. Luisa Ejercito and his two sons Jude and Jose Victor, silently watched the proceedings which were intended to allow prosecutors and defense lawyers to mark evidence in the perjury case and agree on stipulations such as common definition of terms.

Estrada is scheduled to appear for trial on perjury charges in October. Defense lawyers told the court that Estrada, who would be their only witness, will testify for the first time against corruption charges.

Interviewed after his court appearance, the third since being jailed on April 25, the deposed leader said he is very eager to testify.

"I have not been given a chance to be heard. This is my chance to give my side," he said. "Anybody (in my situation) also prays for a speedy and fair trial. I also pray for the acquittal."

Presiding Justice Francis Garchitorena of the anti-graft court’s first division ordered the jailed leader to appear in court for the start of the presentation of the government’s evidence from Oct. 29-31.

However, the marking of evidence had to be set to another date after the prosecution and the defense failed to agree on accepting evidence allegedly showing the deposed leader’s shares in five business corporations.

Estrada has been accused of not declaring his true wealth in his 1999 statement of assets and liabilities, where he claimed his net worth was only P35.8 million. Prosecutors claimed he has more than the amount on hand, in banks as well as interests in 55 companies.

Yesterday’s hearing went ahead smoothly with an easing of a heightened state of security of Estrada’s past appearances at the anti-graft court.

While hundreds of anti-riot policemen lined up outside the Sandiganbayan, there were no signs of pro- and anti-Estrada protesters who were present when the former president was arraigned by the same court in June.

Estrada was taken by car from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMCC) on North Avenue in Quezon City, where he is being detained, to the court. In contrast to previous court appearances, the Philippine National Police (PNP) did not close down a portion of Commonwealth Avenue leading to the Sandiganbayan.

In the past, security officials said there might be an attempt on Estrada’s life during the court appearances, possibly by forces seeking to destabilize the administration of President Arroyo.

However, this time the PNP said they had no reports of any plan to harm the ex-president. Personnel securing the deposed president will be reduced from 3,500 to only 1,500, which would mean savings of P250,000 in terms of manpower and transport costs per trip to the court.

The pre-trial hearing for the capital offense of plunder is scheduled for next month.

Estrada very depressed

Estrada said he felt "very sad" being confined against his will in a special wing of a military hospital.

"Very depressing," he said at a news conference after the pre-trial hearing.

He said his arrest had denied him access to his eye doctor in the US. His left eye was earlier diagnosed with glaucoma.

"I think my left eye is long overdue for an operation," he said, but made it clear he had not sought the court’s permission for a medical furlough.

To battle the gloom and boredom, Estrada said he watched television and "prayed a lot." He said he heard Mass at least twice a week.

"My only consolation is that I learned so many people are praying for me and I know that God is with me and I’m sorry to say that (my) only sin is with the civil society," Estrada said.

Deprived of conjugal visits by his acknowledged mistresses, Estrada said his legal problems had brought him closer to his wife Loi, who won a seat in the Senate in the May elections.

"My only consolation is that all of them (his extended family) are behind me and they keep my spirits up," he said.

Asked to rate the conduct of his case, Estrada said, "so far, so good."

He said he had reached a decision to delay seeking medical attention because "I want to face all these fabricated charges against me."

Estrada said he had nothing to hide and if he was guilty he would have accepted an offer to leave the country as he was being thrown out of office in January.

"God is with me," he said.

Also, in an apparent reference to his successor, Estrada said high officials should always make decisions in favor of the poor.

"When you are a father... or a mother over the nation, when there are decisions to make, let us always decide for the good of all, for the greatest number. And who are the greatest number? The poor," he said.

Prosecution suffers setback; Estrada lawyer disqualified

The prosecution team in the perjury case against Estrada suffered a setback yesterday in early courtroom skirmishing during a pre-trial hearing.

Justice Garchitorena, accused of being biased in favor of the jailed leader, appeared to challenge the competence of prosecutors as he rejected their plea that he and other members of the court’s first division inhibit themselves from the perjury case.

When the prosecutors failed to convincingly argue why he should withdraw, Garchitorena scolded them, saying "you cannot come to court unprepared like second-year law students."

He advised the government to go to the Supreme Court if it disagreed with his ruling.

Prosecutors had argued that Garchitorena was biased against them and had shown signs of pre-judging the case when he said in a hearing in June that the prosecutors did not have enough evidence.

Based on a statement, "there is already a pre-judgment. This case will not go anywhere except in an acquittal," private prosecutor Arno Sanidad said.

Meanwhile, one of Estrada’s lawyers, former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, was disqualified yesterday from registering as part of the defense team.

Garchitorena cited rules barring retired justice officials who are receiving government pensions from handling criminal cases of public officials.