Erap undergoes eye surgery that was postponed Friday

Deposed President Joseph Estrada underwent eye surgery last night at a hospital in San Juan to remove a cyst in his left eye.

Estrada will stay at San Juan Medical Center for at least two more days for post-surgery recovery and observation before he is taken back to detention at his villa in Tanay, Rizal, said Dr. Lorenzo Hocson, Estrada’s personal physician and director of the hospital.

The surgery was done by Dr. Amadeo Veloso Jr., an ophthalmologist from the Asian Eye Institute.

Hocson said Estrada was supposed to undergo surgery last Friday night but this was postponed because the patient was suffering stress.

Police came at 3 a.m. that day with orders to bring him back to Tanay as part of government security efforts to thwart a coup attempt and a possible popular uprising against President Arroyo.

Estrada resisted, saying he had a court order granting him a medical furlough.

Estrada supporters gathered outside the hospital and a truck blocked the gate to prevent the police from taking Estrada away.

The supporters left after Estrada met with them. Estrada said the attempted transfer was a deliberate violation of his rights.

One of Estrada’s sons, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, denied allegations that the ousted leader had helped finance the latest coup moves against Mrs. Arroyo.

The Estrada camp also denied accusations that his hospital stay was timed to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the 1986 People Power revolution that ousted late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. He arrived at the hospital Thursday.

Hocson said doctors who had performed an oculoplasty or removal of excess eyelid skin on the former president earlier this month detected the bulbar conjunctival cyst but did not remove it.

"This was the cyst that we saw but we did not remove. We were hoping that it would get smaller within a month," he said.

Hocson said that although Estrada’s current condition was not a medical emergency, the cyst had to be removed immediately to avoid an infection of Estrada’s surgical scar.

Earlier this month, Estrada was taken to the hospital for preseptal cellulites, a common bacterial eye infection.

After his eye infection was treated by a combination of antibiotics and steroids, doctors also performed surgery on his eyes to remove excess skin on his eyelid, a condition called dermatochalasis or sagging of the eyelids, common in older people.

Estrada was later flown back to Tanay after staying for several days at the hospital.

Estrada is currently on trial for corruption. He was ousted by a military-backed popular uprising in 2001 and replaced by President Arroyo, who was then vice president.

Prosecutors accuse Estrada of running an illegal gambling protection racket during his presidency, amassing more than P4 billion in payoffs and stashing the funds in a secret local bank account.

Estrada denies the charges. He maintains he was illegally ousted from the presidency and still enjoys immunity from suit.

In a preemptive move last Friday, a defiant Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of emergency, charging that the political opposition — of which Estrada is the de facto leader — had forged "a tactical alliance" with right-wing and communist forces to bring down her administration.

Officials emphasized the declaration, contained in Proclamation 1017, does not give Mrs. Arroyo additional powers although protest rallies were banned and security forces were ordered to "suppress and prevent acts of terrorism and lawless violence."

Three officers from elite military and police units, including a Marine brigadier general and a senior police commander, were rounded up before dawn and at least eight other suspected plotters were being sought by authorities.

Mrs. Arroyo has been locked in a protracted battle since June with opposition groups demanding her resignation.

She survived three impeachment complaints in September, when her dominant allies in the House of Representatives used a technicality to block the petitions that had alleged massive corruption and vote-rigging in the May 2004 presidential election.