Estrada pleads to go home after miserable night in jail
Estrada pleads to go home after miserable night in jail
MANILA (Agencies): Disgraced former president Joseph Estrada pleaded to be taken home on Thursday after a miserable first night in prison on the capital charge of plunder.
But his jailers sought court permission to lock him up in an isolated facility.
A special court handling Estrada's case for economic plunder, a crime punishable by death, heard his formal petition to be placed under house arrest instead.
The court also set another hearing on Friday on a separate petition to dismiss the charge that the former president illegally amassed 80 million dollars.
Estrada awoke on Thursday after a first night behind bars during which thousands of his supporters maintained a noisy rally at a nearby religious shrine.
Officials said that Estrada, detained on an economic plunder charge punishable by death, had spent part of the night giving media interviews and listing people he was willing to see.
Police said that his supporters at the Edsa shrine -- the rallying point for a people power revolt that forced him from office in January -- had swelled to around 8,000 overnight. The crowd had dwindled to around 300 by morning but later swelled to around 3,000.
Known for his hedonistic lifestyle, Estrada complained in a television interview about poor air circulation in his 19.3 square meter cell, as well as his spartan food. "It is very sad. I did not think that this would happen to me," said the 64-year-old former action movie star, who was hauled off to the national police headquarters jail in Manila on Wednesday. Estrada said the cell had an air-conditioning unit "but there is no air coming out." "There is no special treatment. Even the food is (served) in plastic."
Police said the cell had a cot, a toilet and a corner desk, but no television or telephone.
Estrada's detention conditions are superior to those afforded ordinary inmates. Drug dealers and an alleged Muslim terrorist are among his new neighbors.
Estrada lawyer Jose Flaminiano said the defense team would appeal to the court "on the standpoint of humanity and compassion" to allow their client to be confined to his suburban Manila mansion.
He said Estrada had served his country in various posts for more than 30 years, which made him "entitled to some degree of consideration."
But Justice Secretary Hernando Perez insisted that "house arrest is not allowed.
National police chief Leandro Mendoza separately sought court permission to move Estrada and his son and co-defendant, Jose Ejercito, to a prison specially built for him at Fort Santo Domingo, a police special force training camp about 70 kilometers (43.4 miles) south of Manila.
Mendoza argued Estrada's cell at Camp Crame was located "just a stone's throw away from the municipality of San Juan," Estrada's suburban Manila support base.
He said the former president "still maintains a sizable following who could cause unnecessary disruption of the day-to- day business" at the police headquarters.
At least 2,000 Estrada supporters were massed on Thursday at a Roman Catholic church shrine less than two kilometers (about a mile) from Camp Crame.
His jailer, Chief Superintendent Thompson Lantion, said: "For security considerations, our facilities there (in Fort Santo Domingo) are better even for the health of our former president. "As he is in his advanced years, we must look after his health and his well-being."
But Estrada's defense team, pressing for house arrest, said it would oppose the police plan to move the disgraced leader to another prison.
Estrada entertained a long queue of visitors on his second day in prison, and his wife Luisa Ejercito brought in food in four iron pots. "I never thought this (jailing) would happen," she said. "Before he left, he told me: 'I never thought my life would end up like this'," said Ejercito, who later joined the pro-Estrada rally nearby.
One of his other lawyers, Cleofe Verzola, told reporters after a morning visit: "He's okay."
Presiding justice Francis Garchitorena said no bail petitions would be entertained until after arraignment, which has yet to be set.