Erap wants Lenten break with mom this time

Ousted President Joseph Estrada has asked the Sandiganbayan to allow him to go on a six-day Lenten retreat at his sprawling estate in Tanay, Rizal, starting today until Easter Sunday.

In a letter to the justices of the special division, Estrada said he wants to spend Holy Week in the private chapel and meditation area in his 15-hectare resthouse just across his place of detention at Camp Capinpin.

"The Court’s kind approval of the request will enable me to reflect and meditate in an environment conducive to the performance of spiritual exercises which I firmly believe will give me strength for these very trying times," Estrada said in his letter.

However, Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said he saw no need for Estrada to go to his private chapel for meditation as he can do it anywhere.

"They are doing everything to get him into his villa," he said. "They are giving all the reasons. I don’t know what is in there. There is nothing to act on. There is a legal flaw in the strategy they used," he said.

Villa Ignacio said the request may be accepted to give Estrada time to meditate on all his blessings and misfortunes during the Holy Week.

"A little inconvenience is not bad for him to experience the sufferings of Christ," he said.

The special division has yet to act on Estrada’s request, which was filed by lawyer Noel Malaya and retired Sandiganbayan presiding justice Manuel Pamaran.

The special division is chaired by Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Minita Chico-Nazario and comprised of Justices Edilberto Sandoval and Teresita Leonardo-de Castro. — Delon Porcalla