Court OKs Erap trip to US

Citing "humanitarian reasons and in the service of justice and equity," the Sandiganbayan yesterday reversed its earlier ruling and granted former President Joseph Estrada a three-month furlough to undergo knee surgery in the United States. Estrada, who welcomed the ruling, has one more request: to spend the Christmas holidays with his mother.

"If I have to beg with the justices just to be with my mother, I’ll do it. I have only one mother and she’s been looking for me," he told The STAR. "She can go any time now."

Estrada said he would ask his doctor in the United States to set the date for his knee surgery.

He wants to spend only two months in the US so he can help in the campaign of his friend, actor Fernando Poe Jr., who is running for president. Estrada said he can undergo rehabilitation in the Philippines.

In its 13-page ruling, which overruled objections from prosecutors, the court said it could not be "so heartless as to deprive Estrada his choice of surgeon and hospital this time around considering his deteriorating health which will lead to paralysis."

It said the possibility of paralysis was a "supervening event" that convinced the anti-graft court to reverse its 2002 ruling.

Estrada praised the Arroyo administration for allowing him to leave. "At last they’re human now," he said. "They showed the feeling of compassion after three years."

Last year the Sandiganbayan thumbed down a similar bid by Estrada to seek surgery abroad for his ailing left knee, arguing that medical treatment is available in the country.

Prosecutors opposed Estrada’s furlough bid, warning that Estrada may be planning to seek political asylum abroad. He has denied any such plan.

Estrada’s doctors say he is suffering from torn ligaments in both knees, arthritis in the pelvic region, a cataract and a cyst in his left eye, and multiple slipped discs pressing against his spinal cord.

They said his back could deteriorate if his knee condition does not improve.

Two weeks ago, Estrada wrote the court saying he had tripped "when my knees gave in and my forehead hit the pavement."

President Arroyo, who succeeded Estrada in January 2001, welcomed the ruling on humanitarian grounds, her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

"The court acted in its independent and enlightened judgment after a close study of the issues and thought this was the most judicious course of action," he said.

Bunye denied accusations from critics that the Arroyo administration — which previously objected to surgery abroad for Estrada — had struck a deal with the ousted leader.

"We should not mix up the rightness and nobility of things with politics," he said.

Because Estrada is considered the political opposition’s "rallying point" in the May elections, the Sandiganbayan said it believed that "the risk of flight grows dim and ceases to inspire the same prior belief that the effective administration of justice will be seriously compromised by allowing him to travel abroad."

It, however, ordered Estrada to pay a P1-million travel bond and submit a "personal undertaking" that he will be back in the country om or before March 31, 2004.

Estrada’s "itinerary shall cover the United States and not any other place" and he shall remain under escort by a four-member police detail, whose travel expenses will be shouldered by Estrada.

Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., chief of the Philippine National Police, will personally pick the police escorts, whose job is to make sure that Estrada returns to the country.

Estrada will remain in detention and may leave for the United States 10 days after receiving a copy of the court ruling, the Sandiganbayan said.

That effectively rejected a motion from Estrada requesting court permission to spend the holidays with his ailing mother, Mary Ejercito.

A disappointed Estrada said he will appeal.

"She is 98 years old and my family tells me she cries a lot, hoping to see me," he said in a one-page statement. "I was hoping that the court would view my petition from a humanitarian perspective and grant me a short period within which to be with my mother."

In October, the Sandiganbayan granted Estrada’s request for a brief furlough from detention to visit his mother at her San Juan home and to undergo a medical checkup.

Estrada was earlier held at Veterans Memorial Medical Center, a military hospital in Quezon City. On Oct. 16, he was moved to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal because of alleged "terrorist threats" by unnamed groups.

"It’s the Christmas season, there is room to hope for miracles," Estrada said.

Critics oppose granting Estrada court permission to seek surgery abroad, saying it could be done in the Philippines.

Estrada, 66, is on trial for allegedly running an illegal gambling protection racket and illegally amassing up to P4 billion during his aborted 31-month presidency. He denies the charges.

The former actor was ousted in early 2001 by a popular uprising and replaced by then Vice President Gloria Arroyo. He claims he was illegally ousted and still enjoys immunity from suit. — With Marichu Villanueva, AP