Estrada set for new prison as Arroyo warns his supporters<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): Jailed ex-Philippine president Joseph Estrada
\nunderwent a medical check-up Saturday ahead of his transfer to
\nanother prison as his successor warned supporters protesting his
\ndetention that armed forces would meet \"any challenge\".<\/p>\n
The 64-year-old former movie star was taken after breakfast
\nfrom his cell in the Camp Crame police headquarters by helicopter
\nto a military hospital enroute to his new prison.<\/p>\n
Police were granted permission in a court hearing Friday for
\nthe transfer amid fears that tens of thousands of his protesting
\nsupporters would storm the police headquarters.<\/p>\n
His followers have demanded his release and reinstatement as
\npresident. Estrada was ousted in a military-led popular uprising
\nin January that installed President Gloria Arroyo.<\/p>\n
In her first statement on the street protests on Saturday,
\nArroyo warned that the armed forces and the police \"are squarely
\nbehind this administration and are prepared to meet any challenge
\nto the constitution.\"<\/p>\n
A stern-looking Arroyo said over national television that she
\nwould exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with the pro-Estrada
\ndemonstrations but gave a warning to \"those who may be thinking
\nof taking advantage of the situation to further their selfish
\npolitical agenda.\"<\/p>\n
Estrada supporters have been on the streets since he was taken
\naway from his home under heavy guard and placed in custody
\nWednesday pending his trial on charges of plundering the country
\nof US$80 million.<\/p>\n
They had assembled at a historic Roman Catholic shrine on
\nManila's main thoroughfare, just two kilometers away from
\nEstrada's old cell at Camp Crame police headquarters.<\/p>\n
A former Estrada aide Ronaldo Puno said the ex-president was
\nexamined by government doctors and his own private doctor at the
\nmilitary hospital.<\/p>\n
Puno said he did not know if Estrada would stay at the
\nhospital overnight or whether he would be flown to his new
\ndetention center at a special police training camp in Santa Rosa
\ntown, 70 kilometers south of Manila.<\/p>\n
His new prison is a comfortable bungalow, far removed from the
\n3.5 meter by 5.5 meter cell at Camp Crame and has such amenities
\nas a refrigerator, air-conditioning, television, video cassette
\nrecorder, two bedrooms with large beds and thick mattresses, two
\nbathrooms and a kitchen.<\/p>\n
The center does however have some prison characteristics. The
\nwindows of all have bars and no curtains so the guards can keep
\nan eye on the prisoner, ABS-CBN television reported.<\/p>\n
Estrada would be deprived of his cellular phone.<\/p>\n
Estrada allies had complained bitterly about the \"sub-human\"
\nconditions of his original cell which only had a foldaway cot
\nwith a thin mattress, a bathroom and a corner desk.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/estrada-set-for-new-prison-as-arroyo-warns-his-supporters-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}