RP court to hear Estrada graft case

RP court to hear Estrada graft case

MANILA (AFP): A special court is to begin hearing evidence on plunder charges against detained former Philippines president Joseph Estrada on Oct. 1, court officials said on Friday.

Estrada, deposed in a popular revolt in January, is on trial on charges of building a personal fortune of US$80 million through illegal means including taking bribes and kickbacks. The crime is punishable by death.

Sandiganbayan antigraft court officials said Estrada's lawyers sought to have the hearings set back for a month to give the court time to resolve pending pleadings, including a Supreme Court petition challenging the constitutionality of the anti- plunder law.

But the three-judge panel rejected the request, they said. Estrada, 64, was arrested in April and is held at a military hospital without bail.