Erap withdraws surgery petition

Former President Joseph Estrada ordered his lawyers yesterday to momentarily withdraw his pending petition at the Sandiganbayan to undergo knee surgery until his application for a US visa is settled.

Estrada said he instructed his lawyers defending him at the plunder trial to withdraw the petition from the anti-graft court for the meantime since he could not comply with the deadline set for him by the court.

"It’s beyond our control because I am not even being given a visa. So in the meantime, I would withdraw my petition pending approval of the (US) visa," Estrada told The STAR.

From his detention cell at Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, Estrada called up to clarify that withdrawal of the petition does not mean he won’t seek medical leave in the future. "The bottom line is the approval of the visa," he said.

The US Embassy had told the Estrada family that the former leader could not apply for a US visa because of a policy of disallowing the approval of travel privileges to anyone, including a former president, who has a pending criminal case in the country.

Estrada told The STAR earlier that three US Embassy officials led by political affairs counselor Rick Nelson went to his San Juan residence sometime before New Year’s Day and told his wife, Sen. Loi Ejercito, about the US government policy.