Erap granted court permission to visit ailing mother

The Sandiganbayan granted deposed President Joseph Estrada permission yesterday to visit his ailing mother at her home in San Juan on Feb. 18.

State prosecutors made no objection.

In a two-page resolution, the Sandiganbayan’s three-member special division, headed by Justice Teresita Leonardo-de Castro, said Estrada will be escorted from his resthouse in Tanay, Rizal, where he is being detained, at 8 a.m. and taken to his mother’s house at Kennedy Street, North Greenhills in San Juan. Estrada would then be taken back to his resthouse at 5 pm.

Last Feb. 2, Estrada’s lawyer, former senator Rene Saguisag, asked the Sandiganbayan to allow Estrada to visit his mother on Feb. 9 to 11 and again on Feb. 16 to 18.

The court said Estrada will be under the supervision of the Philippine National Police during his stay at his mother’s house.

The court reminded the PNP to enforce the no-media interview rule on Estrada. the PNP was given authority to control and monitor the use of cellular phones and other communication devices during the visit.

Earlier, the court told Estrada’s lawyers that they could not issue a blanket authority giving Estrada permission to visit his ailing mother on weekends. The court instead told Estrada’s lawyers to file separate requests for each weekend visit.

Estrada spokesman Rufus Rodriguez earlier said the former president’s lawyers were considering filing a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights against the PNP for what he said were violations of Estrada’s rights.

Rodriguez said police guards at his Tanay resthouse have confiscated all his cellular phones last Tuesday and have only allowed one member of his team of lawyers to visit him. Under the new security measures, only immediate members of the Estrada family may visit him.

The PNP said the strict security measures were adopted to protect Estrada from a reported assassination plot. However, Rodriguez said the measures were meant to prevent Estrada from meeting key members of the United Opposition and plan their strategy for the May elections.

Authorities are looking into reports that certain groups, including the New People’s Army (NPA), may try to assassinate Estrada and pin the blame on the government, according to armed forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.

He said security officials are taking seriously that the NPA may try to harm the former president.

San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor Ejercito, one of Estrada’s sons, laughed off the reports.

Ejercito suspects that the supposed plot was only a ploy to keep Estrada away from the public eye as the nation gets ready for the May elections.

He said his father still has the charisma that the Arroyo administration fears Estrada might use to bring out the vote against the government.