Erap seeks All Saints’ Day pass

Ousted President Joseph Estrada asked the Special Division of the Sandiganbayan yesterday for a three-day special pass so he can spend All Saints’ Day with his ailing 102-year-old mother.

In a two-page motion filed by his lawyer, former Senator Rene Saguisag, Estrada said he would like to be with his mother Doña Mary Ejercito in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila by noon on Nov. 1 and then return to his resthouse in Tanay, Rizal by the afternoon of Nov. 3.

Estrada did not indicate in his motion if he intends to spend his furlough at his house in Polk street or at his nearby mother’s house in Kennedy street.

In his motion, Estrada said he also intends to use the time with his mother to meet with his lawyers instead of his lawyers visiting him in Tanay. Saguisag said defense lawyers would still need to meet with Estrada in order to finalize their final offer of evidence in the plunder and perjury cases being faced by the ousted President before the anti-graft court.

In the same motion, the 69-year-old Estrada also thanked the Sandiganbayan Special Division and the prosecution panel led by Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio for approving in principle his request of visiting his mother on weekends.

Last Friday, the Special Division composed of Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro and Associate Justices Diosdado Peralta and Rodolfo Ponferrada granted Estrada’s earlier motion to visit his mother.

The court, however, instructed Estrada to still file his request with the court for each of his intended visits.

The court likewise ordered Estrada to specifically note the date, time and place of the visit so it could issue a corresponding order to the Philippine National Police (PNP), which is tasked to provide him with security everytime he leaves his Tanay resthouse.

In granting Estrada’s request for weekend visits to his mother, arriving at a decision, the court said it took into consideration the motion filed by the former President’s lawyers as well as the prosecution panel’s "no objection" comment.

Estrada, in his motion, informed the court that the medical condition of his mother has been deteriorating as shown by the medical certificate issued by her physician Lorenzo Hocson, director of the San Juan Medical Center.

According to Hocson, Estrada’s mother is already bedridden with poor food intake.

Hocson also noted that her "mental status has progressively deteriorated" and that "there is always the imminent risk of rupture of the abdominal aneurysm, which invariably would be fatal."

Estrada last saw his mother during her 102nd birth anniversary last May, which was held at Estrada’s mansion in North Greenhills, San Juan.