Manila to file another case against Estrada

Manila to file another case against Estrada

MANILA (Reuters): The Philippines said on Monday it would file a case of economic plunder, which is punishable by death, against ousted president Joseph Estrada over almost four million dollars he allegedly received from state pension funds.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez told reporters the case, involving 189 million pesos ($3.98 million) of commission, would be submitted to the Office of the Ombudsman on Wednesday for investigation.

Estrada was not immediately available for comment on the case but has previously denied all allegations of corruption.

It is based on affidavits submitted to government lawyers by two former Estrada appointees -- Carlos Arellano, former administrator of the Social Security System (SSS), and Federico Pascual, former general manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Both were appointed to the helm of the two state pension funds by Estrada during his 22-month presidency from June 1998 to January 2001.

"This is about GSIS and SSS...plunder (cases) also," Perez said. "The amount of the commission, just the commission, was 189,700,000 pesos."

"These are different transactions. What's important is that all these moneys were given in consideration of some actions and favors from Mr. Estrada," Perez said.

Ombudsman Aniano Desierto is already considering eight cases of corruption and economic plunder against Estrada. None have yet been filed in court because of a restraint order by the Supreme Court.

Desierto, in an urgent motion for clarification on Monday, asked the court to lift its restraining order on the investigation and filing of graft, corruption and economic plunder charges against Estrada. Plunder is an offense punishable by death.

The Supreme Court issued the restraining order while deciding on a petition by Estrada arguing he was still the president and therefore immune from lawsuits. But the court dismissed the petition 13-0 on Friday although it has given the former movie actor 15 days to appeal.

On Monday, Estrada's lawyer Rene Saguisag said the ousted leader would most probably ask the Supreme Court to reconsider its unanimous decision affirming the legitimacy of the government of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. "The fight goes on," Saguisag said.

Estrada was scheduled to meet his lawyers later on Monday and was trying to take the setback "in his stride," he said. "In all probability, we will move for reconsideration," he said. "The odds are more daunting than ever but we hope the Supreme Court will keep an open mind."

He said the court decision against Estrada was "not totally unexpected," adding that "a new president usually gets a free pass in his or her first judicial challenge." "I am on record that our chances of winning were less than a snowball's chance of surviving in hell."

Newspapers have said Estrada might be planning to flee the country as events turned against him but he has said he will not. "I will never flee. I will never leave the motherland," he told village leaders in Manila on Sunday.

Estrada's wife Luisa "Loi" Ejercito Estrada, campaigning for a seat in the Senate, reiterated that neither she nor her husband would attempt to flee the country.

"President Estrada is staying. He has said that since he was born here, he will stay here and die here. The same thing goes for this lady," she said in a statement.

Predicting a massive win for the opposition coalition party in the upcoming May congressional elections, she said: "The results of the election will be a more effective judgment on Estrada than the Supreme Court decision."