Estrada’s legal ordeal starts

The historic legal battle of deposed former President Joseph Estrada starts this afternoon at the Sandiganbayan even as his lawyers have challenged the police to bodily carry him to court.

The Sandiganbayan’s third division, chaired by Justice Anacleto Badoy, ordered the police on Friday to bring Estrada, 64, his co-accused son Jinggoy and his former lawyer Edward Serapio to court at 1 p.m. for their trial on the charge of plunder.

Estrada was supposedly "defiant" yesterday and said he may snub his corruption trial as he demanded better treatment from prosecutors, the Agence France Presse reported.

It will be the first time a former Philippine president will appear in court to face the charges that he amassed P4 billion in payoffs from gambling bosses, kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes and questionable government investments.

The former president had earlier repeatedly denied the charges and vowed to face his accusers in court where, he said, he was confident he would be acquitted.

But the principal prosecutor, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, said Estrada’s lawyers are supposedly not as confident as their client and have repeatedly tried to postpone the trial for as long as possible.

On Friday, Estrada’s principal lawyers asked the Supreme Court to postpone trial until after it resolves its petition questioning the constitutionality of the anti-plunder law.

But the police said they had no choice but to comply with the court order.

"The court order says we’ll have to bring the person of the former president before them and, therefore, we have no choice but to do that," said Deputy Director General Thompson Lantion.

Estrada’s lawyers, on the other hand, said the trial would have to be postponed because they would not be available today.

"The court cannot compel them to appear. If it insists and the Estradas refuse, the police will have to physically carry them," said Estrada lawyer Jose Flaminiano.

Flaminiano said he would not be able to make the trial because he was to accompany his wife to Tarlac beginning yesterday to attend the feast of St. Therese for his wife’s devotion.

Another Estrada lawyer, former senator Rene Saguisag, said the hearings set for Oct. 1, 17 and 18 have to be postponed because he is fully booked for October and could not accommodate Estrada’s trial.

Saguisag’s colleague in the defense team, Cleofe Verzola, has also supposedly left the country for the United States to be with her ailing mother.

Another Estrada lawyer, Felix Carao, even challenged the court to cite the Estrada defense panel in contempt.

"We can never be cited for contempt by the court because we were not consulted in the fixing of the trial dates," Carao said.

Only the Fortun, Narvasa Law Office, another member of the defense team, made no assertion that it would not be able to send an associate to the trial.

But Raymond Fortun said Estrada has the right not to appear at the trial’s opening and notified the court weeks ago that he was waiving his right to appear in pre-trial and other proceedings.

"It is very clear that they want to turn this event into a circus," Fortun said. "The (former) president is being treated like a caged animal without any rights to be respected."

"Mr. Estrada is entitled to the dignity of a former president and yet he remains... locked up. It is very clear they would want a circus here," Fortun added.

Estrada maintains that "the dignity of a former president" includes being granted the privilege of house arrest but the court has so far denied the plea and allowed him to be confined in a military hospital.

Meanwhile, Lantion said some 1,500 policemen have been deployed from the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) where Estrada is detained to the Sandiganbayan courthouse, seven kilometers away.

While the police continued to try to persuade Estrada to appear in court without incident, Lantion said they are prepared for the "worst-case scenario" and pledged to inform the court of the events that transpired after they present the court order to Estrada.

At the same time, the independent anti-corruption group Plunder Watch pledged to "closely monitor each development" in the trial and expose supposed "histrionics."

"We will be there to witness this historic moment and whatever histrionics may be unleashed by the defense," said Plunder Watch convenor Carolina Pagaduan-Araullo.

"It seems that Estrada’s promise to face his accusers and answer all accusations in a trial was all hogwash. The patience of the Sandiganbayan and the public has limits with regards to all their dilatory tactics and over 45 motions," Araullo said. - With Christina Mendez