Erap may take witness stand

Deposed President Joseph Estrada will personally defend his request for bail and will soon be called to take the witness stand in his own trial on plunder and perjury charges, his lawyers said yesterday.

Lead defense counsel Rene Saguisag said they would most probably call their 68-year-old client to the witness stand in "September," where he will justify his request for bail before the Sandiganbayan.

Asked by Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro if it were "definite" that Estrada would take the stand, Saguisag answered, "We are strongly inclined to present him, your honors, any Monday or Wednesday," which are Estrada’s usual trial days.

The defense attorney explained that Estrada’s request for bail should have no bearing on his case, which has been ongoing for over three years.

Collaborating defense counsel Jose Flaminiano was more specific, though, clarifying to Chief Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio, who had been goading his opponents to allow Estrada to testify, that the deposed president will only appear "on the motion for bail."

"We try to determine what’s good for our client. We never discussed the merits of the case because bail is an option and can be raised at anytime before judgment, or even after conviction. As far as we are concerned, politics has nothing to do with this," he stressed.

By saying the motion for bail "has nothing to do with the merits of the case," the defense panel was trying to evade a legal interpretation that a denial of bail would mean the evidence against Estrada is strong, or that a granting of bail could point toward a possible acquittal.

Saguisag and Flaminiano earlier requested that Estrada be granted bail and allowed to stay at his home in North Greenhills subdivision in San Juan to allow him to better prepare his defense.

But Villa Ignacio opposed the request, suggesting that Estrada instead be returned to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, the place where he was detained prior to being granted "house arrest" at his 15-hectare estate in Tanay, Rizal, if defense lawyers wanted to have "easy access."

"VMMC would be the best option. They better return him (Estrada) to the VMMC," he told reporters in an interview, noting that the military establishment is a "hospital" in itself and will always be accessible to his lawyers, as they prepare him to take the witness stand.

Also yesterday, Villa Ignacio again asked the defense panel to stop calling reporters and other witnesses who have no personal knowledge of Estrada’s actions, or are unqualified to testify on the four charges that comprise his large-scale corruption case.