SANDIGAN ALLOWS JINGGOY TO FLY TO HONG KONG TO JOIN ERAP
MANILA, December 29, 2004 (STAR) By Delon Porcalla - Sen. Jinggoy Estrada was allowed by the Sandiganbayan yesterday to fly to Hong Kong to join his father, ousted President Joseph Estrada, who will be undergoing knee surgery in the Chinese territory.Before he was allowed to travel, the senator was ordered by the Sandiganbayan to show proof that his father’s surgeon, Christopher Mow, had already arrived at the Hong Kong Adventist Hospital, and that the knee operation will take place tomorrow.
"I am happy that the Sandiganbayan granted my request to go to Hong Kong and assist my father for his early recovery," he told reporters yesterday.
"I am very very grateful to the justices of this court for giving me the opportunity to check on the condition of my dad," he said.
Estrada is set to leave at 2:55 p.m. today aboard a Philippine Airlines flight.
Despite objections from Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa Ignacio, the anti-graft court granted Estrada a 12-day travel authority, starting today and until Jan. 9.
"We didn’t expect the prosecution panel to be so cruel, your honors, considering that the accused (Estrada) is a senator," retired Manila fiscal Jose Flaminiano, one of the defense counsels, said in open court yesterday.
"It’s based on very flimsy grounds. There should be grace, compassion and hope," he said.
Justices Edilberto Sandoval, Teresita Leonardo de-Castro and Francisco Villaruz found the younger Estrada’s request to travel to Hong Kong meritorious.
"I’m sure (Estrada) will be coming back anyway," Sandoval said.
The special division also retained Estrada’s P100,000 travel bond, which he had posted when he traveled to the United States on June 12 for the Independence Day celebration of the Filipino community in San Francisco.
Apart from his US trip last June and his request to attend the funeral of his maternal grandfather, the Hong Kong trip is the third for Estrada, who has been out on P500,000 bail since March last year after he was jailed with his father on charges of plunder.
Estrada will celebrate the New Year with his father in Hong Kong, along with his mother, Sen. Luisa Ejercito, brother Jude Estrada, sister, Jackie Ejercito-Lopez, and brother-in-law Beaver Lopez.
They had left with ousted President Joseph Estrada on Monday.
Accompanying them were former Maguindanao representative Didagen Dilangalen, Estrada’s spokesman; his personal doctor Larry Hocson, lawyer-friend Rally Ramirez, and four police escorts.
Villa Ignacio told the justices there was no need for Estrada to leave in the absence of reports that Mow is already in Hong Kong.
"There’s no operation to speak of," he said. "If they presented medical bulletins, then we could have acted accordingly."
On the other hand, former senator Rene Saguisag, Estrada’s lead counsel, said it would be better for Estrada to be around during his father’s operation.
"No one can predict what will happen," he said. "It would be better if the eldest son is there. It would be better if he would be with his family."
Meanwhile, Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal, Communist Party of the Philippines spokesman, said the Sandiganbayan had allowed Estrada to travel to Hong Kong after President Arroyo had struck a deal with her ousted predecessor.
"Even Philippine doctors have long averred that the type of treatment Estrada needs is readily available in the country," he said.
The CPP will hold the administration responsible should Estrada fail to return to face trial, or in the event it bars Estrada from returning from Hong Kong," he added.
"The political deal between Mrs. Arroyo and Estrada was done in stealth, as is the mark of thieves–involving maneuvers meant to divide the political opposition," Rosal said. — With Jose Rodel Clapano, Benjie Villa
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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