Erap daughter’s plea for Bible study in Tanay nixed

Government prosecutors opposed yesterday the request of one of the daughters of former President Joseph Estrada to hold a weekly Bible study in his 15-hectare resthouse in Tanay, Rizal, where he has been detained since July last year.

In a seven-page comment, chief special prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio said the request of Teresa "Techie" Ejercito should be denied, arguing that this would set a bad precedent among other members of Estrada’s families and his friends who would also want to visit him.

"A favorable resolution of the motion (of Ejercito) would create a situation where relatives and friends of Estrada would unnecessarily and incessantly flood this court with motions anchored on identical pious reasons or varied forms thereof," he said.

Villa Ignacio said the special division of the Sandiganbayan should not veer away from its previous ruling where it denied the request of Makati Rep. Agapito "Butz" Aquino, a former classmate of Estrada in Ateneo, to celebrate his 66th birthday in the Tanay resthouse, along with 12 other former classmates.

"There is no cogent reason for this honorable court to depart from its earlier ruling," said Villa Ignacio in opposing Ejercito’s request to allow her and 19 other people to hold a Bible study at the JEE Youth Camp (Erap’s vacation house in Tanay) every Wednesday.

"(The) JEE Youth Camp is a place of detention of Estrada subject to (the) control and supervision of the PNP (Philippine National Police) and not a social hall for holding revelries where people can simply come in and out," the Sandiganbayan earlier ruled in denying Aquino’s request.

Villa Ignacio, however, clarified that they have nothing against Estrada attending a Bible study in his resthouse.

"With the daily uncertainties, sufferings and trials in life, one can only turn to the Omnipresent One for guidance and strength," he said.

But he added that there are "recognized limitations" that need to be considered in Estrada’s case.

"The place of meeting is a place of detention where people simply cannot come and go. Also, there are additional and unwarranted expenses that the government has to face in order to ensure the safety of Estrada and his guests during the said Bible study meetings," he said.

Villa Ignacio nevertheless suggested that since Rene Saguisag, Estrada’s lawyer, himself admitted that Ejercito has regular access to her father, it would be better if she and "immediate family members, instead of her friends, compose the Bible study group."