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.