Erap delays defense

Jailed former President Joseph Estrada won a court order yesterday giving him three more weeks to prepare his defense at his landmark corruption trial, accourding to court officials.

Estrada was supposed to start introducing his own evidence in court yesterday, but his lawyers won a postponement to Sept. 6, saying they were overburdened representing other clients in unrelated cases.

Lawyer Jose Flaminiano told the special anti-graft court he was already handling too many other cases before the same court and that he could not cope with the frequent hearings.

He also said the defense had "no means of contacting the witnesses" in Estrada’s defense.

When the court tried to reset the hearing to Aug. 18, Flaminiano threatened to resign from the case, saying his schedule was too tight to appear again so soon. This prompted the court to settle for Sept. 6 for the next hearing.

Prosecutors alleged Estrada’s lawyer was bluffing to slow down the case, which has dragged on following his arrest in April 2001, shortly after the EDSA 2 revolt which ended his 30-month rule.

Chief prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said that Flaminiano’s threat to be removed from the case was a "bluff," adding that "the court has bent over backwards on this case."AFP, Delon Porcalla