Erap fit to stand trial, says surgeon

Ousted President Joseph Estrada is fit to stand trial, his American physician said yesterday.

Dr. Christopher Mow told reporters that aside from some discomfort resulting from sitting in court for the daylong appearances, Estrada was physically able to appear at his trial.

"From a medical standpoint, he is physically fit to testify," said Mow, a bone surgeon at Stanford Medical Center in California.

Barring hitches, Estrada is set to testify before the Sandiganbayan special division on March 15.

His daylong trial appearances, scheduled every Wednesday, will start at 9 a.m. and will end at 4:30 p.m.

The court will take a break between 12 noon and 2 p.m.

Mow was the head surgeon of a team of doctors who operated on Estrada’s knees at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital in 2004.

However, Mow suggested that Estrada be permitted to take breaks in which he could stand, stretch and flex his knees during the trial, preferably every two hours.

"This (long period of sitting down) may cause him some discomfort," he said. "But this is normal for someone who has undergone knee surgery."

Mow said for medical purposes, it would be best for Estrada to be temporarily transferred to a house in Metro Manila for the duration of his trial.

"It would be hard for him to spend long hours traveling in a car," he said when asked if Estrada could be transferred to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) near the Sandiganbayan in Quezon City.

"Again, from a medical standpoint, he does not need to stay at a hospital," Mow said.

Estrada’s lawyers have asked the Sandiganbayan to allow their client to be allowed to stay in his residence on Polk Street in Greenhills, San Juan for a month as part of the preparation for his courtroom appearance.