Erap wants only two police escorts

Jailed former President Joseph Estrada wants to reduce the number of policemen designated to escort him to the United States from four to two.

The Sandiganbayan earlier gave the go-ahead for Estrada’s knee surgery in the US, stipulating that Estrada pay a P1-million travel bond and be accompanied by a four-man police escort.

Defense lawyer Noel Malaya said they will file a partial appeal regarding the Sandiganbayan’s Dec. 23 ruling allowing Estrada to go to the US and stay there for three months to undergo medical treatment for his knee.

Malaya said the expenses Estrada must shoulder for his four police escorts cost too much and will take a heavy toll on his client’s finances.

"We want to reduce the number of escorts to two," Malaya said. "Hindi kaya ni Erap ang gastos. Mga isa o dalawa lang, pwede na (Erap cannot afford the cost. One or two will do)."

If the justices of the Sandiganbayan’s third division are "uncomfortable" with the proposal of the defense, Malaya said, then they will make arrangements to get escorts from the Philippine consular office in San Francisco, California.

He said the airfare alone would cost between $800 and $850 for one-way economy-class tickets for each escort. Estrada will also have to provide $30 per meal for each escort over the 90-day duration of the trip. There is, too, the $110 daily hotel room rate to consider, he added.

The complaints of the defense panel in the Estrada plunder trial, however, are good news for the prosecution panel, Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said.

Villa Ignacio said they will file a motion seeking to hold in abeyance the implementation of the Dec. 23 ruling, saying these violated the rules of court.

Prosecutors said the controversial ruling cannot be implemented because the court will lose its jurisdiction over Estrada once he reaches US territory. They said Estrada’s police detail cannot even carry firearms since they will be covered by US laws.

Estrada’s request was granted by the Sandiganbayan for "humanitarian reasons and in the service of justice and equity." The ruling divided the three members of the graft court’s special division, with Justice Edilberto Sandoval expressing dissent. This prompted the Sandiganbayan to create a panel of five to have the required concurrence of three magistrates.

Justices Minita Chico-Nazario and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro and guest justices Diosdado Peralta and Norberto Geraldez said the deposed leader may leave the country within 10 days of receiving the order — approximately on Jan. 3 — with a stern warning that Estrada will remain jailed "prior to his actual departure."

Besides the travel bond, Estrada was also ordered by the court to submit a "personal undertaking" that "he will return to the country" within 90 days. His itinerary will also be limited to the US, though he may go to any US state, since his movement was not limited.

The court order also means Estrada may stay in any US state after he undergoes knee surgery at the Stanford Medical Center in San Francisco, California, where Estrada’s surgeon of choice, Dr. Christopher Mow, will perform the operation on his knee. Estrada’s itinerary, the court ruled, "shall cover the USA only and not any other place."

The four-man police escort will serve as Estrada’s bodyguards for the "entire duration of the travel" and will be responsible for his return to the country. Philippine National Police chief Director Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. will pick Estrada’s escort detail.