'Joseph Estrada' charged for abusing wife, kids

MANILA, Philippines - A namesake of former President Joseph Estrada was charged yesterday for allegedly beating up his wife and threatening his two children with a knife in their Manila home last Dec. 29.

Estrada, a 35-year-old jobless man who did not finish high school, was charged before the Manila regional trial court with violating Republic Act 9262, the Anti-Violence Against Women and their Children Act of 2004. Assistant City Prosecutor Viven Andino set bail at P12,000.

Estrada, based on the police booking sheet, is 5’11” tall and weighs 165 lbs.

His wife, Irina, 34, an overseas worker, told police Estrada ordered her to open her e-mail and Facebook account when she, their two children and her siblings arrived at their house at around 1 p.m. on Dec. 29. Irina said her husband flared up when she told him she had already deleted her e-mail address and her Facebook account the night before.

Estrada rushed out of their bedroom and returned with a knife, which he poked at her neck and their two children, threatening to kill them all. She said her husband then grabbed her jewelry and money.

Fearing that Estrada would harm her and their children, Irina said she opened her laptop. Her husband grabbed the device and changed her password.

Irina said her husband posted messages for her Facebook friends and sent a message to her employer, saying she would no longer return to Canada. She said Estrada also called up her employer and ordered her to tell her boss she would no longer return to work.

Irina said while her husband was beating her up and threatening their children, her siblings were calling out to them. Estrada told her to tell her siblings not to meddle in their fight as something bad might happen to them. She said that while still holding a knife against her neck, her husband asked her siblings to give him her passport.

Irina said her husband told her they will not get out of their bedroom alive if her siblings tried to help her. Irina’s sister, Winnie, arrived with policemen, who arrested Estrada at around 5 p.m.

Police said Irina was taken to the Ospital ng Sampaloc after her husband repeatedly hit her head against a cement wall. Estrada, at knifepoint, also ordered their two children to slap their mother, investigators said.