GLORIA'S HEALING MISSION MEANS ESTRADA WILL NOT RETURN TO JAIL: Ailing ex-
leader Joseph Estrada will not have to stay in prison during his corruption
trial, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said Tuesday as she mended fences
with foes to shore up a shaky political base. Macapagal emerged from last
week's congressional election with a projected Senate majority of just one
seat.
Saying she is on a mission to "heal" the nation, the president announced
that work had already started on a bungalow beside a military hospital that
would become Estrada's place of confinement.
The former movie star was flown to the hospital here from a prison outside
Manila on May 12. He is on the mend from a bout of bronchitis and arthritis
and goes on trial on June 27, accused of plundering a personal fortune of
80 million dollars.
While stressing she would not oppose Estrada's bid to return to his suburban
Manila mansion, Macapagal said "house arrest is not within the control of the
executive" and she was not putting pressure on the courts to grant it.
"So in the meantime, we have to have options. So we will still pursue the
construction of the (hospital) house." Both plans have raised an outcry. The
Left has vowed to stage street protests.
The president meanwhile said Manila could exercise "flexibility" over the
fate of Senator Gregorio Honasan and former police chief Panfilo Lacson --
two opposition candidates facing rebellion charges and who are likely to
win seats in the Senate.
"We will see how good the evidence is. And of course we have to do what we
have to do under the law," Macapagal said. But she needs a friendly Congress
as she attempts to attract investments, create jobs and reduce poverty in the
three years before the next presidential election. She took the helm in
January, when a popular revolt forced Estrada from office.
"We respect the will of the people. We're happy enough to (win the) majority
considering that we did some very politically difficult decisions, considering
that we did not sacrifice our political will." Inquirer,05/23/2001
HOUSE ARREST POSES DILEMA FOR GLORIA
An Analysis by Amado Doronila, Inquirer News Service, May 20, 2001
The visit, which came amid reports that Estrada had suffered from "bouts of
depression," was partly a public relations move aimed at healing the divisions
of the nation since the May 1 attack on Malacañang.
Estrada, however, repeated his request that he be put under house arrest
while undergoing trial on charges of plunder rather than be detained at Camp
Sto. Domingo in Santa Rosa, Laguna. To which request, the President was
reported to have said: "Hindi nga puwede ang ganoon. (That can’t be.) It’s
the Sandiganbayan’s call."
Estrada’s lawyers have filed such a request, claiming they have precedents to
back it. If they have the evidence, there’s no stopping them. But the
conversation between Ms Macapagal and Estrada is bizarre. It sounded very
much like bargaining between a policeman and a motorist over a traffic
violation in which extralegal arrangements are discussed to fix a case except
that the dialogue in the hospital involves high political drama and key
political leaders.
It was reported that Estrada had told Ms. Macapagal: "Sa ating dalawa, wala
namang problema (Between you and me, there’s no problem)." Ms Macapagal said
she "has no personal objections to house arrest." A problem arises from this
encounter. Estrada is speaking from a personalistic value system in which
problems can be solved by aregluhan (compromise) among powerful people.
The value collides with an impersonal value held by Ms Macapagal who has made
a point that no one is above the law when the government implemented the
arrest order on Estrada.
'Dilemma'
The house arrest issue highlights the dilemma impaling the President and even
the Filipino people. Her dilemma: Can she compromise on the principle of
equal administration of justice for political convenience?
The dilemma of our people: Are we prepared to accept the rigor of an impartial
administration of justice?
As the attack on the Palace on May 1 and the election results show, we are a
deeply divided nation. The attack followed the incendiary rallies at Edsa in
April, sparked by Estrada’s arrest which his followers, both from the elite
and the masa, could not accept. Estrada’s arrest and the Ombudsman’s filing
of the plunder cases with the Sandiganbayan have been described as "turning
points" in the effort to achieve justice and equal application of the law on
both the disadvantaged and the powerful.
These episodes show that half of us want to prosecute Estrada to give
credibility to the even-handedness of our judicial system and the political
will of our leaders to carry out this basic reform on the administration of
justice.
Half of us are not prepared to accept the rigors of the principle of equal
justice before the law and are even disposed to march in the streets and
attack the seat of power--not so much to restore Estrada to power but to give
him privileged treatment while on detention.
Ms Macapagal has taken cognizance of public opinion pressure resisting the
rigorous implementation of the law, and has bent over backward to show
compassion to Estrada.
But if she has to be consistent with the principle that no one is above the
law, she cannot concede beyond what the law permits. However, she can only
push the notion of equality within what half of this polarized nation, bound
by tradition used to seeing privileges accorded to the powerful, is prepared to
accept.
'Crossroad'
In the case of Estrada’s arrest, the nation arrived at a crossroad. Indeed it
has made a turn toward the direction of impersonal administration and has
already encountered turbulent resistance along the way. If she pushes the
concept too far, she may ignite another turbulence in the streets or even a
civil war.
Abraham Lincoln decided to take a stand to save the Union after the Confederates
attacked, on April 12, 1861, the government garrison at Ft. Sumter in
Charleston Harbor, North Carolina. The attack sparked the American civil war.
Lincoln informed Congress that "the assailants of government began the
conflict of arms." He then proclaimed a blockade of southern ports.
The Sumter attack also brought to a head the issue of emancipation of slaves.
That war was the bloodiest in American history and more bloody than many
European civil upheavals.
Is President Macapagal prepared to push the principle of impersonal
administration of justice at the risk of a civil war? Is it a principle worth
putting her presidency on the line? By arresting Estrada, the Macapagal
administration broke the unwritten code that no President could ever be
arrested to face justice, but she had to pay a heavy price and fallout--an
attack to seize power and restore Estrada to the presidency.
She may have reached the point of no return.
In their petition for house arrest, Estrada’s lawyers have asked the
Sandiganbayan to heed the "public opinion" expressed in the election results.
They cited that Church groups, including Catholic bishops, favored house
arrest. They cited election results in which people associated with Estrada
appeared to have won seats in the senatorial elections.
'Connection'
It’s hard to see any connection between these events and granting Estrada’s
petition for house arrest. If an impersonal administration of justice is a
sound principle in law, why should it be determined by "public opinion"?
What is the relationship between house arrest and the election results? What
do the lawyers mean by public opinion? Is it the 8-4-1 result in the Senate
in favor of the administration candidates or a 0-13 result?
From results tabulated so far, it can’t be denied the administration’s People
Power Coalition has won twice more seats than the Puwersa ng Masa in the
Senate.
Can we interpret this as "public opinion" endorsing the administration’s
decision to pursue the plunder charges against Estrada that should be a basis
for denying the petition for the house arrest for Estrada?
Lawyers, a privileged class, need to be consistent, too. We know they have a
responsibility to defend their clients and to see to it their rights to due
process are protected. But what they are seeking in their petition for house
arrest is a regime of two-tiered or even multitiered judicial system in which
some are more privileged to enjoy leniency than others, according to a special
hierarchical scheme.
This is an argument for elitist privilege--a concept Estrada has claimed to
repudiate in his slogan "Erap para sa mahirap" ('Erap for the Poor').
CATHOLIC BISHOPS: ESTRADA HOUSE ARREST 'DANGEROUS'
AFP, Inquirer, May 22, 2001
Influential Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines on Tuesday joined
leftist groups in criticizing President Gloria Macapagal-Macapagal for
favoring house arrest for her disgraced predecessor Joseph Estrada.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) social arm warned
that transferring Estrada from detention to his suburban Manila mansion could
create trouble. "Sending Estrada home in the guise of house arrest is utterly
dangerous. His presence may endanger the safety of his supporters and the
immediate community as what happened in his arrest," the CBCP's national
secretariat for social action, justice and peace said.
Riots between Estrada supporters and police erupted when the former movie
star was taken into police custody last month to stand trial on charges he
plundered the economy. Estrada supporters six days later on May 1 stormed the
presidential palace in what the government said was a failed bid to grab
power.
Estrada is now under tight guard at a military hospital in Manila undergoing
treatment for bronchitis and arthritis. Macapagal has visited him twice and
has made it known she would not oppose house arrest for the fallen leader
but said the decision should come from the court.
Calling for reconciliation and unity, Macapagal said the government was also
prepared to construct a cottage for Estrada in the hospital compound. The
CBCP said giving Estrada special favors only "reflects the government's
lameness and lack of sincerity in prosecuting Estrada and his cohorts."
"Why would Estrada be given special treatment when countless detainees suffer
each day due to lack of medical attention?" it argued. On Monday leftists
warned the government of an "avalanche of protests" if it insisted on granting
concessions to Estrada, whose trial is to begin next month.
MACAPAGAL TO BUILD 'HOUSE' FOR ESTRADA: Pres. Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday
called for healing following the hotly contested May 14 elections as she
promised to build a special annex at a heavily guarded military hospital in
Quezon City for her jailed predecessor, Joseph Estrada.
In a radio interview, Ms Macapagal noted that intense rivalry between her
People Power Coalition and Estrada's Puwersa ng Masa had caused "division"
among Filipinos that needed to be dealt with immediately.
Her statement came a day after she visited Estrada at the Veterans Memorial
Medical Center where he and his son, San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, are
undergoing medical tests while in police custody awaiting trial on charges
of plunder.
The surprise visit was aimed at easing political tension resulting from the
congressional and local elections, considered a referendum on Ms Macapagal
four months after she took over the presidency from Estrada at the height
of Edsa People Power II.
Estrada and his son were airlifted to the hospital last week from their
detention cell at a police camp in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
In the radio interview, Ms Macapagal said she told Estrada that she would
not oppose his request that he be placed under house arrest.
But she added that she made it clear to Estrada that the decision should
come from the Sandiganbayan.
Estrada, 64, was depressed upon receiving reports that he might be moved
back to the police camp, Ms Macapagal said. She said Estrada's doctors would
have to make a formal request to have him stay at the hospital for health
considerations.
Asked what she promised Estrada during the visit, Ms Macapagal said: "I
told him in the meantime, the government will construct one annex in the
hospital that is fit for a former president so that he would be
comfortable."
The annex would be inside "a small compound, with a house and a reception
cottage" for his visitors, she said. Militant groups that backed Ms Macapagal's
rise to power, however, criticized her on Sunday for acceding to Estrada's
demand to be released into house arrest.
"It's unfair. It sends a wrong signal to those who worked hard for Estrada's
ouster," said Teodoro Casino, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan.
Casino said Estrada should not be accorded special privileges to send a
strong warning to would-be grafters in government.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said he would pose no objection to put
Estrada under house arrest "only upon his assurance that he would not leave
the country" while undergoing trial at the Sandiganbayan. Inquirer,
05/21/2001
MACAPAGAL WON'T OPPOSE HOUSE ARREST FOR ESTRADA
Inquirer News Service, May 19, 2001
President Macapagal-Arroyo appears to have dropped her opposition to having
her ousted predecessor, Joseph Estrada, placed under house arrest instead of
detention at a Sta. Rosa, Laguna police camp.
This after the President paid a surprise 25-minute visit, her second in two
weeks, to Estrada yesterday at his Veterans Memorial Medical Center suite in
Quezon City. During the visit, Estrada congratulated the President on the
"apparent majority victory" of the People Power Coalition and Ms Macapagal
in turn congratulated him for the ``seeming victory’’ of his wife, Loi.
Estrada, according to presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao, "several
times addressed Ms Macapagal as Mrs. President." Estrada, Tiglao said, also
"offered to help" the Macapagal administration in its pro-poor programs.
Tiglao said the deposed president asked Ms Macapagal to use her "persuasive
powers" in having him placed under house arrest instead of detention at Fort
Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa.
Estrada and his son, outgoing San Juan mayor Jinggoy Estrada, who is facing
charges with his father and is detained along with him, were airlifted to
the hospital from Laguna just before last Monday’s elections allegedly due
to health reasons.
"Mr. Estrada asked if it was possible to be placed under house arrest at his
own home and the President said it was not up to her but the Sandiganbayan,"
Tiglao said. He said Estrada told the President his lawyers were studying
previous cases of house arrest and the President remarked that since they
have a "basis" for a petition, they should push for it in the Sandiganbayan.
Tiglao said, "For her (Ms Macapagal), her personal stand is she has no
objection to house arrest," but it would be up to the Sandiganbayan, which
will be hearing the plunder and graft cases against Estrada.
During her first visit to Estrada in Sta. Rosa on May 3, Ms Macapagal turned
down outright his request to be placed under house arrest. Asked what brought
about the change in Ms Macapagal’s position, Tiglao said, "Maybe she thinks
it’s not necessary to keep him in Fort Sto. Domingo since he was having bouts
of depression (there)" Tiglao said.
Tiglao said Jinggoy Estrada will be given the same privileges accorded his
father.
Philippine National Police Deputy Director Edgardo Aglipay and PNP Director
for Police Community Relations Thompson Lantion accompanied Ms Macapagal on
the visit but they were not privy to her conversation with Estrada.
Ms Macapagal and Estrada sat together in Estrada’s suite and talked alone
for about 25 minutes. Tiglao said the two did not discuss the charges and
counter-charges their parties have been hurling at each other over the
conduct of the elections.
Then came the offer of support. "Mr. Estrada mentioned his pro-poor
projects in Mindanao and the President said she has been pursuing these,"
he said.
"(He gave a) general expression of support to help the President," Tiglao
said, “which elated Ms Macapagal.” "She was happy. It was very important
that Mr. Estrada expressed some form of support for this government,"
Tiglao said.
Tiglao said the President learned Friday night that Estrada was having "bouts
of depression" because he did not want to return to Sta. Rosa. "So she
decided this morning to visit him," Tiglao said. Before her visit to
Estrada, members of media were asked to pull out of the presidential convoy
heading for the hospital.
The President reportedly gave explicit instructions not to allow media
coverage of her second meeting with Estrada. Lawyers for Estrada, meantime
asked the Sandiganbayan yesterday to allow him to remain at the veterans
hospital where he is more accessible to them.
Rene Saguisag, one of the lawyers, said they hope the "status quo would be
maintained without prejudice to our plea for house arrest" for "medical
reasons as well as professional ones."
"We would like to be able to communicate more conveniently with the accused
who can be moved to and from this honorable court when needed with less
hassle", he said in a six-page manifestation he filed before the
Sandiganbayan which is also located in Quezon City.
"In the time the Estradas were in Laguna, undersigned was not able to visit
them and communication by telephone was discouraged, if not prohibited",
Saguisag explained.
OMBUDSMAN URGES EARLY ESTRADA ARRAIGNMENT
Inquirer News Service, May 18, 2001
OMBUDSMAN Aniano Desierto yesterday filed a memorandum before the
Sandiganbayan’s 3rd division asking it to immediately arraign ex-President
Joseph Estrada, his son Jinggoy and lawyer Edward Serapio for plunder.
In his 31-page memorandum, Desierto said the early arraignment of Estrada et
al. was mandatory under Republic Act 8493 (or the Speedy Trial Act) and the
2000 Rules on Criminal Procedures.
The court had set the arraignment on June 27, but the prosecution headed by
Desierto said this should take place on Monday or not later than the end of
the month.
As if in retaliation, Estrada lawyer Rene Saguisag also filed a memorandum
yesterday asking the court to cite Desierto for contempt or at least have
him "censured for grave prosecutorial misconduct."
Saguisag again assailed Desierto for initially filing eight criminal cases
against Estrada only to withdraw five of these after his client went through
a "humiliating bail process."
His memo was filed with the Sandigan’s 4th division, to which one of the
five withdrawn graft cases had been originally raffled. The division had
approved the withdrawal, but on Thursday the defense team asked it to
reinstate the case "to lay the basis for a Supreme Court challenge" leading
"The Ombudsman must accept the consequences of his ‘joke’ and not toy with
the accused," Saguisag said yesterday.
Desierto filed his own memo to counter the claim of Estrada’s lawyers that
the prosecution had filed weak cases against the disgraced ex-president. "If
they think we are palpak (bunglers), why are they making moves to delay the
proceedings, particularly in the plunder case?" said Desierto, who pointed
out that the defense team’s motion to remand the case to the Office of the
Ombudsman He added: "The law is clear that high crimes involving high
officials and large sums of money, as in the plunder charge against Estrada
should be given utmost priority."
Desierto also asked the court to act on his motion for the conduct of a
joint bail hearing for Estrada et al.immediately after the arraignment.
Desierto said that according to RA 8493 and the Supreme Court’s rules on
criminal procedures, detention prisoners like the Estradas and Serapio
should be arraigned within 10 days from April 6, the date of the raffle of
the cases, and that according to RA 8493, the arraignment should be held
within 30 days from April 25, the day the Estradas were arrested.
Desierto said the Estradas and Serapio--the only ones arrested so far out
of the nine persons charged with plunder--should be regarded as "co-
conspirators" to whom a common body of evidence should apply.
A joint bail hearing is in order for the court to save on time and resources
he said, adding: "The accused preference for separate bail hearings is
nothing more than an insidious ploy to discover through the backdoor who the
essential witnesses of the prosecution are, their circumstances and regular
activities, as a way of determining what buttons to push to suppress their
testimonies."
In earlier statements, the Ombudsman warned the court that some witnesses if
made to testify against the accused, might receive death threats along the
way and "leave the court" without completing their task.
He further argued that the three accused were once again coordinating their
actions, "as was their move when they were plundering the state." For example
they "have purposely not applied for bail at the same time," he said noting
that so far, only Serapio and Jinggoy had done so.
"Thus, the accused are attempting a sneak-peek at the evidence of the
prosecution through the application for bail of accused Serapio (presumably
the first to be heard) without, however, being bound by the evidence
presented," Desierto said.
He also refuted the defense team's contention that Serapio, for example was
only mentioned in the charge sheet in connection with just one of the four
components of the plunder case. Serapio is accused of receiving P200 million
in jueteng bribe money in behalf of the Erap Muslim Youth Foundation.
His lawyers had stressed that he was not at all mentioned in relation to the
other scandals involving Estrada’s alleged "Jose Velarde" account,
commissions earned from Belle Corp. share sales, and kickback from tobacco
excise taxes.
It was on this premise that Serapio's lawyers wanted his bail hearing to
start ahead of the other accused. But to bolster his conspiracy theory
Desierto compared Serapio to the "driver of the getaway vehicle" that was
used in a well-planned murder plot.
Estrada’s lawyers are determining whether he can appear before the Sandigan
via a live video feed at his arraignment for perjury on May 31, like what
former US President Bill Clinton did when testifying at his own impeachment
trial.
"It will be less trouble for the police. We’re exploring the possibility,
just to avoid the security concern," said lawyer Raymond Fortun.
According to Fortun, a camera can be set up wherever Estrada will be at the
appointed time--at the presidential suite of the Veterans’ Memorial Medical
Center in Quezon City or at his Polk Street residence in San Juan if the
anti-graft court grants his petition for house arrest. Asked if this would
not set a precedent, Fortun said: "I don’t think (other) people can be
similarly situated. There should be certain things done in this case which
under normal circumstances, would not be done."
Fortun said it would be such a "security nightmare" if Estrada would personally
appear at the Sandigan for his arraignment.
"Mabubulabog ang Sandiganbayan (The court will be disturbed). And we don’t
want that," he said. Fortun said he had raised the matter with "two other
defense counsels."
If everyone agrees to it, the defense team will file a motion with the court
next week, he said. The perjury case is based on the Ombudsman’s charge that
Estrada did not declare his true assets and liabilities in 1999. The
Sandigan’s 4th division agreed to the motion of the state prosecutors to
defer the arraignment of the case from May 17 to May 31 for
ESTRADA ASKS SANDIGAN TO CITE PROSECUTORS FOR CONTEMPT
AFP,Inquirer May 18, 2001
Jailed former president Joseph Estrada, awaiting trial for corruption, has
asked a lower court to cite state prosecutors for contempt for filing and
later withdrawing five graft cases against him, court officials said Friday.
"The prosecution has been less than candid here and for this it should not
get a free pass for grave prosecutorial misconduct," Estrada lawyer Rene
Saguisag said in a motion filed with the court that demands Ombudsman Aniano
Desierto be cited for contempt.
The state filed eight charges against Estrada last month related to corruption
during his 30 months in power.
It later sought permission to withdraw five of the charges, saying the
prosecution team wanted to concentrate on the charges of plunder, perjury and
illegal use of an alias.
The anti-graft court granted a motion to withdraw one of the graft cases.
"The office of the Ombudsman needs to be taught that it should "not toy with
accused," and must learn "a lesson in professional conduct," Saguisag's
petition read.
The deposed leader faces arraignment on May 31 for the perjury charge, and
on June 27 for the plunder charge. The latter is punishable by death. State
prosecutors said while Estrada only declared assets of about 700,000 dollars
they have gathered evidence to show he amassed a personal fortune of at least
80 million dollars while in office.
ESTRADA ARRAIGNMENT MOVED TO MAY 31: The Sandiganbayan pushed back by two
weeks yesterday the arraignment of former President Joseph Estrada on charges
of perjury and the illegal use of an alias after prosecutors cited
election-related security concerns.
Justice Narciso Nario of the anti-graft court's fourth division decided
after a hearing to grant a plea by the Philippine National Police (PNP) to
reschedule Estrada's court appearance for the perjury case from today to
May 31.
The arraignment for the other charge was reset from May 18 to June 15. The
deposed leader faces another arraignment on June 27 for the separate and
more serious charge of plunder, a capital offense punishable by death. Deputy
Special Prosecutor Robert Callos filed the five-page motion, which cited
police intelligence reports of possible massing up of Estrada loyalists at
the Sandiganbayan if the former president is arraigned today.
PNP intelligence director Hercules Cataluna said supporters of Estrada
could exploit the passions generated by the May 14 congressional and local
elections to kick up new street protests, stretching police who are already
on vote count security duties.
Estrada's lawyers, led by former Sen. Rene Saguisag, themselves sought a
deferment of the proceedings, but their request for a June 27 arraignment
was rejected by the Sandiganbayan.
The original date would have come three days after the election of 13
Senate seats being contested by Estrada's political allies and his wife
former First Lady Luisa Ejercito. With exit polls predicting the
administration party would grab eight of the slots at stake, Cataluna said
"the timing of the arraignment presents some concerns for the police."
Cataluna also reminded the court that a large percentage of the police
force are still committed to election duties as the counting of ballots is
still going on.
However, Sandiganbayan Justice Rodolfo Palattao said the court "cannot be
dictated by security problems."
"Postponing an arraignment because of a police intelligent report sets a
bad precedent," Palattao said. Without agreeing to the security concerns the
anti-graft court decided to move back the arraignment on the perjury charge
citing several pending motions by both the prosecution and the defense.
Phil. Star, 05/17/2001
GOV'T. REITERATES WILL CHARGE LACSON, HONASAN WITH REBELLION
INQ7.net, May 12, 2001
THE Gov't reiterated that it will pursue rebellion charges against opposition
senatorial candidates Panfilo Lacson and Gregorio Honasan that will result
in their arrest even after the May elections. But they will be apprehended
only on the basis of a warrant of arrest that the courts will issue after
charges against them have been filed, a radio report quoted Presidential
Legal Adviser Avelino Reyes as saying.
Aside from the video footages, Reyes claimed that the government has more
evidence that will show that Lacson and Honasan had plotted to grab power
from the Macapagal government.
Survey results show the two consistently making it to the top 13 in the
Senate race.
ESTRADA TRANSFERRED TO VMMC DUE TO STOMACH ILLNESS: PNP
INQ7.net, May 12, 2001
Former president Joseph Estrada has arrived at Veterans Memorial Medical
Center to undergo medical examinations after complaining to prison doctors
of stomach pains, the community relations chief of the Philippine National
Police said.
Estrada was flown to VMMC in Quezon City via chopper and accompanied by his
son and co-accused Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada and lawyer Jose Flaminiano
Philippine National Police Community Relations chief Deputy Director General
Thompson Lantion said. The Sandiganbayan 3rd Division, chaired by Justice
Anacleto Badoy, approved the transfer this afternoon.
Doctors at the Fort Sto. Domingo detention facility, where Estrada has been
incarcerated since the May 1 riots instigated by his supporters in their
march to Malacañang Palace, recommended the transfer to VMMC since they
claimed not having the necessary facilities to respond to Estrada’s health
problems.
Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao told dzBB radio that
Estrada complained mainly of chest pains when he called the attention of
doctors at Fort Sto. Domingo. Tiglao said Malacañang is coordinating with
PNP officials for developments on the matter.
VMMC doctors are also set to continue medical exams on Estrada which were
interrupted by the sudden transfer to Fort Sto. Domingo as a result of the
chaos and violence that ensued from the failed power grab on May 1.
Tight security was immediately implemented in the hospital premises. Three
trucks of crowd control units were also deployed outside the VMMC.
Earlier, the Sandiganbayan ruled that Estrada's would be allowed to vote in
their hometown in San Juan. The Philippine National Police appealed the
ruling citing security reasons.
ESTRADA LAWYER APOLOGIZES TO SANDIGANBAYAN
Inquirer News Service, May 10, 2001
Estrada lawyer Raymond Fortun yesterday apologized to the Sandiganbayan for
coming up with a motion on Wednesday mistakenly assuming that the court had
allowed his VIP client to be placed under house arrest.
Fortun said a "simple miscommunication" between him and his messenger led to
his filing of a motion to grant the same accommodation to Estrada’s co-accused
son, Jinggoy. As early as Wednesday, the lawyer was already saying in media
interviews that he was given false information Tuesday afternoon by an ABS-
CBN researcher that Estrada’s house arrest petition was already granted by
the Sandiganbayan’s third division which is hearing his plunder case.
But he said that it was too late for him to contact his messenger Tuesday
night who had already brought home the said motion which would be filed
Wednesday morning.
He told the court yesterday that the motion he filed in behalf of Jinggoy was
done without malice and had no intent to preempt the court’s decision on the
house arrest issue, as earlier alleged by state prosecutors.
Fortun apologized "for any inconvenience or anxiety (on the part of the
court) as a result of such inadvertent filing."
ESTRADA GUARDS STRICTER AFTER INQUIRER INTERVIEW
Inquirer News Service, May 10, 2001
Prominent, non-political personalities like veteran actress Nida Blanca and
award-winning film director Eddie Romero were not allowed to enter the
detention house of Joseph Estrada the other day, a source close to the
Estradas said yesterday.
His jail guards have become stricter, to the further chagrin of the ex-
President, his family and friends, after he granted on Sunday an exclusive
interview to the INQUIRER at his detention house in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
The source said his police sentries at the Fort Sto. Domingo have started
barring visitors who are not on a list approved by the police when the
arrested former President was still detained in Camp Crame.
The list reportedly includes 65 family members, political allies and show
biz pals, including Estrada’s best friend, action star Fernando Poe Jr. It
also includes his defense team of 12 lawyers. "The (former) President was of
course very upset dahil napasama pa dahil sa (because of the trouble caused
by the) interview," the source added.
The first week after Estrada and co-accused son Jinggoy were transferred to
the maximum-security facility on May 1, visiting restrictions were relaxed.
Many of Estrada’s friends who were not on the police list were permitted to
visit him, provided that the jailed ex-President himself personally approved
the visits.
But the rules were no longer as flexible after Estrada gave the INQUIRER the
first face-to-face interview he has had since his arrest. When INQUIRER
reporter Volt Contreras went to the center on May 6, visitors to Estrada’s
bungalow-style holding center had to pass through three checkpoints.
The first was at the gate, where IDs were surrendered and visitors were asked
about their relation to the Estradas and the purpose of their visit. A few
meters away, another set of guards conducted a very thorough -- and at times
embarrassing -- body search.
Here, visitors were required to leave electronic communication devices like
cell phones and pagers, as well as cameras. A third checkpoint, situated just
outside the perimeter fence surrounding the actual holding center, was
installed with a metal detector.
Here, after being subjected to another body search, visitors were asked to
remove their wrist watches and jewelry, even wedding rings. The items would
be returned to them after they passed through the metal detector.
The INQUIRER also reported that former first lady Luisa "Loi" Ejercito had
complained about being frisked thoroughly by combat-ready officers.
She said members of her family, like her daughter Jackie, also had to suffer
such "indignities." Estrada’s lawyers have asked the Sandiganbayan to place
the ousted President under house arrest. When President Macapagal-Arroyo
visited her predecessor on May 3, she declined to grant his request to be
moved to his home in North Greenhills in San Juan, saying the authority to
order the move lay not with her but with the Sandiganbayan.
Yesterday, the President reiterated her position when LDP-Puwersa ng Masa
campaign manager Rep. Butz Aquino brought up the same request.
"Now, to really ease the tension, I believe as the President, you can
encourage the return of the (former) President to his home at this time"
Aquino told Ms Macapagal when they met at a command conference at the Palace.
"That’s not in my hands, Butz. That’s in the hands of the Sandiganbayan,"
the President answered.
"We know you’re very influential," Aquino persisted. "With the Sandiganbayan?
I could not even influence the Comelec (to hold) special registration (for
new voters)," Ms Macapagal responded. PNP chief Director General Leandro
Mendoza told reporters in Davao City that putting Estrada under house arrest
would be "dangerous" to his life since the police could not properly secure
his house in the private subdivision of North Greenhills.
Mendoza said securing No. 1 Polk St. would be difficult since the police
would not have total control over the flow of residents and visitors entering
and leaving the village.
"The problem with house arrest is control. Because it’s a private subdivision
anybody can just get in. We can’t secure the gates because the homeowners
will complain" Mendoza told reporters at the PNP regional headquarters in
Davao.
The possibility of Estrada’s loyal supporters massing again outside his home
poses another problem that police consider ``too difficult to handle" he
said.
He said even Estrada’s lawyers and former Cabinet officials had complained
of problems getting in and out of Estrada’s house because of the crowd that
once tried to protect him from being arrested. "This is the scenario we see
we’ll be constantly holding dispersal operations just to allow someone to get
in or get out" he said.
But like the President, Mendoza said the matter was up to the Sandiganbayan
to decide. "I will follow (whatever the court decides). We are going to
follow and we are going to provide the necessary security measures" he said.
MORE COUP FINANCIERS ON AFP LIST: The military has identified more people
who allegedly financed the failed power grab attempt against President
Macapagal-Arroyo, a senior military intelligence official yesterday said.
The military intelligence official disclosed that Camp Aguinaldo had come
up with a list of suspected financiers longer than that prepared by two
ranking police intelligence officers.
Teresita Ang See, spokesperson for the Citizens Action Against Crime
(VACC), said a reported intelligence report on the financiers of the failed
coup plot would have a negative effect on the government. In a statement
Ang See said the report smacked of witch-hunting and of downright racism.
She scored the unidentified authors of the report for releasing their
findings without checking their facts first.
PNP Chief Leandro Mendoza yesterday said in Davao City that the police
would continue to gather evidence and to identify more people suspected of
financing the Labor Day power grab attempt.
A "special report" on financiers behind the bid to topple Ms Macapagal
would be submitted to Malacanang soon, according to Senior Supt. Reynaldo
Berroya, police intelligence chief.
Berroya reiterated that the report was still "raw information" and the copy
obtained by the press did not come from his agency although he conceded
that it included the names of "some personalities who . . . are part of
those we are monitoring."
The military intelligence official declined to confirm if the military's
list contained the names in the police intelligence report. He said the
"dirty money" that financed the failed power grab attempt was more than the
P1 billion that the two ranking police intelligence officers had earlier
estimated.
Dirty money refers to proceeds from illegal and criminal activities like
smuggling, gambling and drug trafficking. At the height of the anti-government
rally at Edsa, there were persistent talks that huge sums of money were
offered to military officers and men so that they would turn against the
Macapagal administration.
Maj. Gen. Dionisio Santiago, commander of the anti-coup Task Force Libra,
virtually confirmed this when he noted that the biggest mistake committed
by the power grabbers was to entertain the idea that the military was for
sale.
The military intelligence official said that the government "cannot afford
to relax its guard as long as these three personalities are still out
there."
He said the government was still expecting that acts of destabilization
would be committed to derail the May 14 elections.
Ang See said the Chinese-Filipino community remained confident that Ms
Macapagal and her "more intelligent officers" would be able to separate
fact from fiction.
The VACC spokesperson said that some of her Chinese-Filipino peers believed
that the opposition might have leaked the report as part of their propaganda
that the Macapagal administration was anti-Chinese.
Ang See claimed that Chinese-Filipinos were traditionally fence-sitters.
She said the Chinese-Filipino businessmen tagged in the report were
"shrewd" and not the kind who would gamble on a losing proposition.
Inquirer, 05/11/2001
SUPREME COURT JUNKS PETITION VERSUS STATE OF REBELLION: The Supreme Court
voted 8-3 last night to dismiss petitions from the opposition questioning
President Macapagal-Arroyo's declaration of a state of rebellion and the
legality of warrantless arrests.
The SC noted that the lifting of the declaration of a state of rebellion in
Metro Manila by President Macapagal-Arroyo last May 6 rendered the
petitions moot and academic.
The court also dismissed charges that Malacanang resorted to the
declaration of a state of rebellion to justify making warrantless arrests.
Petitions had been filed separately by opposition senatorial candidates
Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Gregorio Honasan and Panfilo Lacson, as well as
the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino questioning the legality of
Proclamation 38. Inquirer, 05/11/200
STATE OF REBELLION LIFTED
Inquirer News Service, May 06, 2001
President Macapagal-Arroyo, confident that the threats posed by allies of
ousted leader Joseph Estrada have been contained, last night lifted the
declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila, five days after the
military quelled an alleged coup attempt against her.
"The disorder has subsided. Threats against the Republic remain, but the
situation is under control," the President said in a nationwide address on
government television.
"The government is firm and the seat of the power is safe. The Armed forces
of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police are behind us," she
said. An hour before she went on the air, however, armed robbers exploded a
grenade at the Farmers Plaza in Cubao, Quezon City, wounding at least 36
people.
In her five-page statement, Ms Macapagal accused opposition leaders of
exploiting the legitimate grievances of the so-called "Edsa Tres" crowd and
inciting Estrada’s mostly poor followers to attack Malacañang. At least six
people were killed and more than 100 were wounded when government troops
dispersed the rioters, many of whom were armed with rocks, wooden clubs and
even guns. Some were reportedly high on drugs.
"Many of the demonstrators were high on drugs. In their numbers, they almost
got through to the Palace. Had that happened, we would have been massacred
inside the Palace. Then our government would have fallen," Ms Macapagal said.
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said the assault was part of an opposition
plot to overthrow Ms Macapagal and set up a junta after killing her and
Estrada, who is in jail on plunder charges. Opposition leaders have denied
the accusation.
"We know the brains behind the rebellion. They were the ones who instigated
the demonstrators to attack Malacañang on May 1. We have ordered their arrest.
Many of those who attacked the Palace are now in jail." She said the alleged
leaders of the plot were now washing their hands of involvement. "The others
are hiding in fear," she said.
At least 11 opposition leaders linked to the protests have been ordered
arrested. Four people, including opposition Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and former
Ambassador to the United States Ernesto Maceda, were taken into custody hours
after the rioting was quelled.
Various groups, many of which joined Edsa People Power II that toppled Estrada
and swept Ms Macapagal to the presidency, supported the crackdown on the
suspected plotters.
But the groups, including the diplomatic community, voiced concern over her
declaration of a state of rebellion--just two constitutional steps before
martial law.
Two opposition parties have also asked the Supreme Court to nullify the
"state of rebellion," saying the government is only using it to gain
advantage in the May 14 local and congressional elections.
In her statement, however, Ms Macapagal defended her decision to declare a
state of rebellion, saying it was a legal weapon she needed to use to defend
the republic and democracy.
Ms Macapagal said no violations of human rights were committed by the
government troops during the period. "This is a triumph of democracy," she
said. The declaration allowed her to use the military to halt protests and
authorize the police to make arrests without warrants.
"I will do everything to restore peace in the streets, in the communities in
the cities and farms around our country," she said. In her statement, Ms
Macapagal said she had reached out to the opposition in recent days visiting
Estrada in jail and some of the arrested rioters.
'Roots of rebellion'
She, however, said the roots of the rebellion could only be stamped out "by
eradicating poverty, creating a strong middle class, and building a society
where most of the people have jobs, businesses and income." Ms Macapagal
asked the people to support the government and give her time to pursue
development, ease widespread poverty and tame the communist and Moro
rebellions that have plagued the country for decades.
"I have served as your President for only 100 days. Give me time," Ms
Macapagal said.
Natural Resources and Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez said that last
week’s political unrest had wiped out the business confidence established by
Ms Macapagal during her 100 days in power. "We’re back to where we started.
We have to work at it again."
'Troop pullout'
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said government troops
had begun reducing their presence in the capital after the coup was quelled.
"We’re reducing our troops in metropolitan Manila to lessen the tension but
they would just be within reach, within striking distance for any contingency,"
Villanueva said.
He said the country was stable following the failed coup and it would be
hard to attempt another power grab soon. "There is nothing to be worried
about. If people are on the run, they cannot organize a coup," Villanueva
said. Government troops, however, are on alert for possible bombings and
other similar attacks, he said.
He said special military contingents would remain at the Palace. Many troops
deployed outside Malacañang have been withdrawn, but many remained inside
and access roads were still blockaded.
More than 3,000 soldiers, backed by tanks and helicopters, were deployed to
secure the Palace, military camps and television stations after the bloody
riot.
108 IN MALACANANG SIEGE CHARGED WITH REBELLION: Charges of rebellion were
filed against 108 supporters of ousted President Joseph Estrada before the
Manila Regional Trial Court late Thursday afternoon.
Government prosecutors recommended a bail of P200,000 for each of them for
a total of P21.6 million.
Sources at the office of the clerk of court told The STAR yesterday they
are expecting more pro-Estrada demonstrators to be charged with rebellion
in the coming days.
Estrada lawyer Rene Saguisag said he had informed the court that he would
be defending the pro-Estrada rallyists. Originally, the Estrada supporters
were accused of sedition for participating in an assault on Malacanang last
Tuesday to restore the former president to power.
However, prosecutors ruled in a 14-page resolution: "Although the charges
were only for sedition, the picture painted by incidents subject of the
complaints, if viewed as a whole, will support the charge of rebellion."
Prosecutors said charges were dropped against seven rallyists who were
minors — a 12-year-old girl and six others aged 17.
Prosecutors said the Estrada supporters were found to have shouted "Bring
down Gloria!" and "Attack Malacanang!" and other seditious words when they
rallied at the Palace.
Prosecutors said the pro-Estrada rallyists were also found to have hurled
rocks and bottles at anti-riot policemen and combat troops, and burned and
destroyed media vehicles and government property.
At the Chino Roces (formerly Mendiola) Bridge across Malacanang, some 100
demonstrators belonging to cause-oriented groups assembled yesterday to
denounce Mrs. Arroyo's declaration of a "state of rebellion" in Metro
Manila.
The rallyists told reporters yesterday they feared that the Arroyo
administration could order the arrest of any citizen without going through
the judicial process in the same way that Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile and former
ambassador Ernesto Maceda were arrested without a warrant.
Police did not stop the demonstrators and instead provided them security as
they listened to the speeches of their leaders near the statue of the late
newspaper publisher Joaquin "Chino" Roces. Phil. Star, 05/05/2001
ERAP DREAMS OF ACQUITTAL, COMEBACK, CHARTER CHANGE
Inquirer News Service, May 06, 2001
Joseph Estrada hopes to regain the presidency, amend the Constitution to
prevent the military from withdrawing its support for elected leaders, call
for elections in which he will not run, and then step down with his name
restored.
The jailed ex-President divulged his plans yesterday in an interview with the
INQUIRER at his maximum-security detention center in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
"They must reinstall me (Kailangang ibalik nila ako)," Estrada said, when
asked what his next move would be if he is cleared of economic plunder charges.
It did not appear to matter to him that the Supreme Court had upheld the
legitimacy of the Macapagal presidency.
"What I’m thinking, assuming I get an acquittal and return to power, is
calling for a constitutional convention," Estrada said. He told the INQUIRER
that he would have the 1987 Charter amended in such a way that the military"
would no longer have the power" under the law to cut its allegiance to the
duly elected president due to political instability.
During People Power II in January, it was the military’s withdrawal of
support for his much-assailed leadership that spelled doom for his two-year-
old administration. Estrada said he would also call for a shift in the form
of government from presidential to parliamentary.
"Then afterward I will call for presidential elections in which I will not
participate. I just want to step down (from politics) with my reputation
restored (may malinis na pangalan)," he added.
'Good point'
He summed up his thoughts on the failure of Edsa III by wondering aloud in
Filipino: "How come if it’s the rich and the `texters’ who gather at Edsa
Shrine, it’s called democracy? But if it’s the poor who go there, it’s
rebellion?"
The 64-year-old former movie actor continued to express bitterness over his
ouster, which he again blamed on "conspirators" that include the Makati
business elite and Catholic Church leaders. "The truth will come out in the
end. I was ordered arrested by this government because, on record, I have
been an effective campaigner for the Puwersa ng Masa (opposition coalition).
(The Macapagal administration) is so determined to get a 13-0 victory (in the
Senate race).
"The masses knew this scheme all along, but what triggered (the May 1
violence) was when they saw me arrested, fingerprinted and posing for mug
shots," he said. He laughed off officials’ statements linking his closest
allies to alleged power-grab conspiracies, particularly an alleged opposition
plot to kill both him and the President and to install Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile
at the head of a junta. Estrada said the charges were part of an "old script."
OUSTED LEADER FINDS TIME FOR 'ART OF WAR'
Inquirer News Service, May 06, 2001
"CHICKEN Soup for the Soul" or Sun Tzu’s "Art of War." Which book better suits
Joseph Estrada’s state of mind these days?
The ousted leader has found life in jail conducive to reading, "reminiscing"
with friends and taking down notes--a departure from his reputed habit, when
he was president, of avoiding reading Cabinet briefs and newspapers as much
as possible.
"At least here I can finish what I’ve started reading," Estrada, unshaven for
days and smoking a Lucky Strike, told the INQUIRER yesterday in an exclusive
interview at his detention house in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. In his first face-to-
face interview with a journalist since he was arrested for a charge of
economic plunder on April 25, Estrada said he has been trying to endure the
"mental torture" of imprisonment by reading and entertaining a strictly
regulated flow of visitors.
With his arraignment scheduled for June, the country’s most well-known and
heavily guarded detainee is also apparently trying to brush up on his legal
defense options.
He said he has also been reading--and even "memorizing"--the 1987 Constitution
and the Revised Penal Code. He gamely showed the INQUIRER the titles he had
on hand: "Chicken Soup," a gift from his visit to Japan in December 1998;
"Art of War," a Chinese classic on military strategy; and "Along Came a
Spider," a crime thriller by James Patterson.
'Sense of humor intact'
But despite the supposed "mental torture" it inflicts, detention has hurt
neither Estrada’s health nor his sense of humor. In the middle of the
interview, a woman doctor in fatigues arrived to take his blood pressure
reading, which was better than usual at 130/80.
"Can you make it higher so they (government officials) can finally be
convinced to just place me under house arrest?" Estrada kidded the doctor
who later saluted him before leaving.
Turning back to the INQUIRER, the ex-president said: "Sometimes you really
have to lighten up here by telling jokes, otherwise . . ." And since he’s
been into books lately, has he also begun writing down his thoughts and
memoirs?
"For now I’m just engaging in some reminiscing (with visiting friends) and
taking down short notes. Why are you asking? Do you want me to stay here that
long?" he asked the INQUIRER, smiling. Asked how he was coping with detention
Estrada complained about the sticky summer heat inside the bungalow built
especially for him and his co-accused son Jinggoy, as two stand fans in the
living and dining area stirred the humid air. (Only the two bedrooms are air-
conditioned.)
He also worried that he and Jinggoy could be trapped "in case there is a
fire" because the front steel door "is locked by guards from outside" when
visiting hours end at 11 p.m.
When the INQUIRER arrived in the morning, Estrada was with former first lady
Luisa "Loi" Ejercito, legal counsel Cleofe Versola and two other lawyers and
his personal secretary.
Later, Jinggoy emerged with wife Precy from their bedroom. The San Juan mayor
was restless and obviously very bored.
'Lunch from home'
Interviewed around 9 a.m., the former president was wearing his wristband
with the presidential seal, a checkered maroon polo shirt, black slacks and
black leather slippers. Issuing orders to his personal secretary from the
plastic chair where he sat for the interview, Estrada offered his guests a
plate of peanuts, oranges, and "Supermelt" ensaymada, which he noted came
from the bakery of former child star Niño Muhlach.
A few minutes later, a servant, one of four helpers working in the cluttered
kitchen at the time, gave him his day’s dose of two Centrum multivitamin
capsules. When lunch was served, the dishes, which came all the way from the
Estrada’s North Greenhills residence, included chicken adobo, kare-kare
grilled gindara, and asparagus soup.
The meal was served on expensive plates and silverware that had also been
brought from No.1 Polk Street.
'Sleep problem'
Estrada--whose lifestyle in Malacañang reportedly included all-night drinking
sessions with his so-called midnight Cabinet--said he was having trouble
falling asleep in his new quarters, and usually stayed up until around 2 a.m.
For entertainment, he has only a TV set and a radio in his bedroom.
He pointed to a stereo speaker fixed on the wall near the main door, which he
and his friends claim contain "hidden microphones and cameras." He had it
covered with manila paper. The windows still had no curtains, although
President Macapagal-Arroyo on Thursday granted Estrada’s request for curtains.
Through the windows, the view consisted of three layers of wire fencing and
beyond, a vista of trees and electric posts. Armed sentries in fatigues
occasionally passed by. Their two tents were pitched just along the
outermost fence.
ARMED PRO-ESTRADA FORCES STILL A THREAT, MILITARY SAYS: Forces allied to
ousted President Joseph Estrada remain a threat to national security
despite a failed siege on Malacanang last Tuesday, a senior military
intelligence official said yesterday.
"We are waiting for them to make a move so we can eliminate them once and
for all," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. He said
pro-Estrada forces were believed to be equipped with high-powered firearms
most of which were smuggled in during the past administration. He said they
have already identified some of the rightist group's safehouses in Metro
Manila which will be raided once the courts have issued warrants.
Northern Police District director Senior Superintendent Vidal Querol
directed the local police chiefs under him to intensify their monitoring of
any troop movements in their respective areas of responsibility.
Two truckloads of heavily armed men were reportedly sighted along Letre
road in Malabon and C-3 road in Caloocan City. On the other hand, the Navotas
police were ordered to be on the lookout for hostile forces landing on its
shorelines from the provinces of Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan.
The intelligence official also confirmed reports that some 500 policemen
belonging to the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force have
gone on absence without leave (AWOL) since the unit's disbandment upon
orders of Mrs. Arroyo last month. The source said they either joined Lacson's
group either out of loyalty or fear of reprisal.
Many of the pro-Estrada deserters have fled Metro Manila for the provinces.
Phil. Star, 05/07/2001
PLUNDER VERDICT HAILED; ESTRADA IS NEXT TARGET
Inquirer News Service, May 05, 2001
MILITANTS hailed yesterday the conviction by a local trial court of a Bureau
of Internal Revenue cashier for plunder, even as they called on the
Sandiganbayan to show similar resolve in deciding the plunder cases filed
against former President Joseph Estrada.
"We welcome the decision of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court. The
decision is important because it gives us a glimpse into the future of the
cases Estrada faces," said lawyer Argee Guevarra, legal counsel of the
militant group Sanlakas.
Sanlakas was among the complainants in the plunder case filed against Estrada
before the Sandiganbayan.
The QC RTC on Friday handed down a guilty verdict against Dominga Manalili
and sentenced her to two terms of reclusion perpetua, not life terms as
earlier reported.Reclusion perpetua is imprisonment for at least 30 years.
Aside from Manalili, also charged were Teopisto Sapitula, Lilia Organo, Joel
Marcelo, Gil Erencio, Reynaldo Enriquez and Luis Se Jr. Last year, the court
dismissed the raps against Sapitula and Organo for lack of evidence. The
INQUIRER had erroneously reported that Sapitula was at large. However, his
lawyers clarified yesterday that he had been cleared.
Manalili and the others were charged with plunder in November 1999 for
diverting more than P260 million in tax payments to the government to their
own bank accounts in 1996 and 1997.
Estrada, who is in detention awaiting arraignment, was indicted on April 4
for allegedly amassing some P10 to P15 billion in ill-gotten wealth including
P130 million in tobacco tax kickbacks.
Under a law passed in 1991, plunder is defined as a series of criminal acts
leading to the accumulation of at least P50 million in ill-gotten wealth. The
offense was listed among the heinous crimes punishable by death when death
penalty was restored in 1994.
Guevarra urged the Sandiganbayan to "let justice take its course though the
heavens may fall" in trying Estrada’s case.
He said the graft court should show its resolve by being impartial and not
giving in to threats of unrest such as the recent pro-Estrada demonstrations
the May 1 attack on Malacañang and the attempt to burn down an apartment
Sandiganbayan Justice Anacleto Badoy was staying in.
According to the RTC, Manalili did not get the death penalty or life
imprisonment because of the absence of "aggravating circumstances" in her
case.
MACAPAGAL MEETS RIOTERS AFTER QUASHING REBELLION
INQ7.net with AFP, May 05, 2001
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo paid a surprise visit today to alleged
rioters jailed for being part of an attempt to topple her. They were among
50,000 supporters of jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada who attacked the
presidential palace on May 1 as part of an alleged failed plan to grab power.
About 100 pro-Estrada supporters have been arrested.
Ms Macapagal, who declared emergency-like powers to quell the rebellion
called Saturday for the transfer of some of the jailed rioters from the
national police headquarters to welfare homes.
The President's jail visit came as the military began easing security in the
Philippine capital even though alleged key plotters behind the power-grab
remained at large. Ms Macapagal is set to remove on Monday the so-called
state of rebellion she had declared to quell the riots, in which four people
died and about 100 others were injured.
During her visit, Arroyo asked some 40 of the jailed rioters why they joined
the siege on her palace, radio station dzBB reported.
Many of the detainees insisted they not been part of the crowd that hurled
rocks and fought with riot police outside Malacanang Palace. Doctors
accompanying the president gave the jailed men medical check-ups.
Ms Macapagal had said earlier that some of the rioters had "no inkling about
politics," depicting them as "abandoned pawns" of opposition leaders.
SUPREME COURT ORDERS RELAEASE OF ENRILE, MACEDA ON BAIL
INQ7.net, May 05, 2001
THE Supreme Court granted a petition for a writ of habeas corpus made by two
alleged instigators of an attempt to overthrow the Macapagal-Arroyo government.
As part of the granted writ, the High Tribunal en banc ordered the immediate
release of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile upon the payment of P100,000 bail pending
further hearings on the actual rebellion and conspiracy to rebellion cases
respectively against them in the Quezon City Regional Trial Court.
Former Ambassador Ernesto Maceda, meanwhile, is set to be freed on a P80,000
bail.
Enrile, Maceda, and other prominent members of the opposition party
supporting jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada were charged and ordered
arrested for plotting to topple the government and reinstate the fallen
leader as president. The others, including Sen. Gregorio Honasan, former
Philippine National Police chief Panfilo Lacson, Brig. Gen. Jake Malajacan
Senior Supts. Michael Ray Aquino and Cezar Mancao II are yet to be arrested.
An arrest order on fellow Estrada supporter Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago
however, was reportedly withdrawn.
President Macapagal-Arroyo declared a state of rebellion in Manila after the
failed siege of Malacañang Palace by pro-Estrada rallyists on Tuesday which
the government used to allow the PNP to make warrant-less arrests on
suspected leaders of the alleged uprising.
ESTRADA DENIES ORDERING ATTACK ON PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
INQ7.net with AFP, May 05, 2001
JAILED former president Joseph Estrada denied today that he had ordered this
week's bloody attack on the presidential palace by thousands of his followers.
In a statement issued from detention while awaiting trial for corruption, he
accused President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's government of trampling on civil
rights and trying to "invent scenarios of rebellion and sedition where no
such things exist."
Estrada, in a statement sent by fax to Manila media, denied a local press
report that he had issued the order for the march through opposition leader
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, who has been arrested for rebellion.
"I deny this latest allegation and state with utmost certainty that this is
yet another form of cheap political gimmickry on the part of the
administration. It is pure fantasy and a product of their wild imagination,"
he said.
The statement was issued as the Supreme Court allowed Enrile to post bail
after being charged with rebellion. Officials have accused Enrile of inciting
thousands of Estrada followers attending a rally to march on the
presidential palace last Tuesday. Four people were killed and more than 100
wounded when the protest turned into a riot.
Estrada has been charged with plunder, a capital offense, for allegedly
amassing 80 million dollars through bribes and embezzlement before he was
overthrown by a mlitary-backed popular revolt in January. He has denied any
wrongdoing.
He is being held in special police facility at Fort Santo Domingo in Laguna
pending his arraignment on June 27.
SECOND GRAFT CASE WITHDRAWN
AFP, Inquirer, May 04, 2001
THE SANDIGANBAYAN said Friday it had allowed state prosecutors to withdraw a
graft charge against jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada to speed up his trial
on the capital offense of plunder.
The special anti-graft court said it granted the request after establishing
that it was "valid and meritorious" and that Estrada lawyers had not filed
any objection. Estrada was indicted for economic plunder, accused of
ransacking the nation of 80 million dollars, and seven other lesser graft
charges last month.
The withdrawn charge was one of the seven lesser counts, which Ombudsman
Aniano Desierto has sought to cancel in a tactical move intended to
strengthen the plunder charge. The court has already allowed one of the graft
charges to be pulled, leaving five still unresolved. Estrada was thrown in
jail last week to stand trial next month.
The government declared a state of rebellion after violent rioting in Manila
by his supporters left four people dead this week.
STATE OF REBELLION LIFTED ON MONDAY: President Arroyo will lift on Monday
her declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila whether or not all
suspected coup plotters, notably Sen. Gregorio Honasan and former Philippine
National Police (PNP) chief Panfilo Lacson, are arrested. "She (Mrs. Arroyo)
wants the declaration withdrawn by May 7, the reason being that she feels
strongly that the rebellion is on the way to being totally suppressed,"
Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said.
The President issued on Tuesday Proclamation No. 38 declaring a state of
rebellion in Metro Manila and General Order No. 1 directing the Armed
Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the PNP to suppress and quell the
uprising "with due regard to constitutional rights."
National Security Adviser Roilo Golez confirmed Tiglao's statements, saying
the government "cannot allow a situation that while they (suspected coup
plotters) have not been arrested, we will maintain the state of rebellion."
Golez indicated that the government takes the flight of Lacson and Honasan
seriously. "We should not kid ourselves because these two know how to hide"
Golez said.
He stressed, however, that government forces are ready to handle further
attempts to destabilize the Arroyo administration.
Education Secretary Raul Roco defended Arroyo's declaration of state of
rebellion in the metropolis, saying it was merely a layman's term. "Many are
arguing that there was no rebellion because the people who trooped to
Malacanang were not armed. One is considered armed when he is carrying a gun
stone, stick, ice pick, etc.," the former senator said.
The diplomatic community, meanwhile, has voiced concerns that the
declaration is "only a step or two away from martial law," according to a
top official of the Department of Foreign Affairs.
"The only way to convince the international community of stability in the
country is to lift the declaration of a state of rebellion," said the
official who asked not to be identified.
Former Foreign Secretary Domingo Siazon confirmed the DFA official's
observation, saying the gripping footage of the clashes outside the Palace
on Tuesday might have alarmed some diplomats.
Vice President Teofisto Guingona assured the diplomatic community that it
was business as usual in the Philippines after government troops quelled
the bloody rampage by supporters of ousted leader Joseph Estrada. Guingona
told about 50 diplomats invited for a meeting at the DFA auditorium that the
"state of rebellion" declared by the President empowered her to deal with
would-be power grabbers.
Guingona, who is also the foreign secretary, added that the declaration
would not threaten democracy. Guingona also denied charges that the Macapagal
administration was trying to silence the opposition. "We let them talk for
six days at Edsa," he said.
But the opposition later "tried to seize power and create a military
junta," Guingona said. During the one-hour briefing, diplomats were encouraged
to comment on the violence, but no one did. Some said they would not comment
on the country's internal affairs.
But the DFA official, who asked not to be identified, said "the diplomats
inquired discretely about the situation, not wanting to put the Vice
President in a bind."
He also said the diplomats were concerned about the possible effects of the
declaration on the local and congressional elections on May 14. Phil. Star,
Inquirer, 05/04/2001
GMA VISITS ESTRADA IN JAIL: Former President Joseph Estrada had an unlikely
female visitor in his place of detention yesterday, bearing a gift of puto
and cuchinta (rice cakes). And he called her "beloved President."
Estrada interrupted his private viewing of the NBA playoff game between the
New York Knicks and Toronto Raptors, freshened up and saluted President
Arroyo in their first meeting since last September when she broke away from
his government.
Mrs. Arroyo and her jailed predecessor shook hands in a conciliatory move.
Television footage of the meeting showed the 64-year-old former movie star,
in a yellow-checkered shirt, blue jeans and the presidential seal still on
his trademark wristband, speaking cordially to Mrs. Arroyo, who was dressed
in formal black.
Estrada said he was thankful for the visit.
"It is good that she saw my condition here. I am thankful that she will
grant my other requests, such as security for my family. I am thankful to
our beloved President," the ousted leader said.
Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said Mrs. Arroyo was elated over
Estrada's use of the term "our beloved President." Press Undersecretary
Roberto Capco said President Arroyo accepted an invitation by Cebu Archbishop
Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, a close friend and spiritual adviser of Estrada, to
check on the conditions of her predecessor's detention center.
Estrada, who was unseated on Jan. 20 by a military and Church-backed popular
uprising, asked Mrs. Arroyo if he could be placed under house arrest, but Mrs.
Arroyo replied it was a matter for the courts to decide. But she granted his
request for longer visiting hours for members of his family, as well as his
children from his mistresses.
In a television interview later in the day, the President said she was
"really happy" to have met and talked again with Estrada.
The ousted president also asked Mrs. Arroyo for a speedy trial of his
cases, as well as toilet door locks and curtains for his windows.
In a talk with reporters, Mrs. Arroyo said she visited Estrada to see if he
was "comfortable enough" as part of the courtesies due a former national
leader.
Only a handful of aides, among them Interior and Local Government Secretary
Jose Lina, escorted Mrs. Arroyo to Fort Sto. Domingo, a training and seminar
facility of the Philippine National Police's elite Special Action Force, in
Sta. Rosa.
Estrada and his son San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada have been detained at
the fort since Tuesday, after brief confinements in Camp Crame and at the
Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.
Tiglao described the 20-minute meeting as "very friendly and cordial."
Aside from the curtains, Estrada aired other minor complaints to the
President, including the lack of a door on his toilet, clogged drainage in
another toilet and a lock for a drawer. Phil. Star, 05/04/2001
JUNTA PLOTTERS PLANNED TO KILL MACAPAGAL, ESTRADA: Alleged junta plotters
had planned to kill President Macapagal-Arroyo and jailed predecessor
Joseph Estrada, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said yesterday, citing
intelligence reports.
Warning that the worst may not be over, Perez said the assassinations would
have allowed the coup plotters to take over the country and establish their
own junta.
Asked if Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the 11 opposition leaders ordered
arrested after the government dispersed demonstrators, would have been
interested in taking over, Perez said: "That seems to be the idea."
Police have arrested at least four of their targets but continued seeking
former Philippine National Police chief Panfilo Lacson and reelectionist
Sen. Gregorio Honasan.
The two Puwersa ng Masa senatorial candidates, and Lacson's trusted men
Brig. Gen. Jake Malajacan and Senior Supt. Michael Ray Aquino have been
declared "fugitives and threats to national security."
The four, who are among the suspected principal instigators of the violent
May 1 attack on Malacanang, are now listed in the "roster of wanted persons"
of the Philippine National Police and the target of a nationwide manhunt
according to PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza.
Chief Supt. Nestorio Gualberto, chief of the PNP Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group, yesterday said a "bounty" was being considered for the
arrest of the four men. Mendoza ordered the arrest of reelectionist Sen.
Miriam Defensor-Santiago,also a PnM candidate.
Senior Supt. Evna Ruiz was assigned to enforce the warrantless arrest on
Santiago, who had announced that she would resist arrest and defend
herself.
In an interview with ABS-CBN, President Macapagal-Arroyo announced that the
government's efforts to arrest the 11 suspected instigators of the violent
siege of Malacanang would continue no matter how much they resist these.
She said she was not bothered by speculations that Honasan and Lacson might
still plot an armed attack. Enrile, also a PnM candidate and among the
principal suspects, was yesterday formally charged with rebellion. No bail
was recommended for Enrile, who was arrested Monday and is being held at Camp
Crame.
Opposition politicians asked the Supreme Court yesterday to stop police
from arresting their leaders. It was not clear when the high court may
rule.
Perez called the arrest orders "an act of self-defense."
Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuno approved the filing of the charge
before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court, citing Article 134 under the
Revised Penal Code as amended by Republic Act 6968. Zuno accused Enrile and
his still unidentified cohorts of "conspiring and confederating (with) and
helping one another" in directing Joseph Estrada's loyalists "to attack,
assault, siege, take over Malacanang" with the intention of overthrowing
the Macapagal administration and reinstalling the jailed ex-president.
Former Ambassador to the United States Maceda, another principal suspect
who was arrested Wednesday, was scheduled for inquest last night.
Also yesterday, the Palace issued a military intelligence report showing
that Enrile, Makati Rep. Agapito "Butz" Aquino, the ex-president's sons
Jude Estrada and JV Ejercito, People's Movement Against Poverty head Ronald
Lumbao and PnM senatorial candidate Jamby Madrigal personally led the
loyalist march to Malacanang.
The President's spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao furnished reporters a "J-3
report" from the Armed Forces that provided definite details of what
transpired Tuesday morning.
At least three law enforcement agencies in Cebu yesterday conducted separate
operations to locate the whereabouts of Honasan and Lacson. But so far, the
efforts of the National Bureau of Investigation, Criminal Investigation and
Detection Group and Regional Intelligence and Investigation Division have yet
to produce positive results.
Supt. Antonio Salvacion, Cebu provincial police chief, said he ordered his
men to conduct random checkpoints after receiving reports that Lacson and
Honasan could be in Cebu, using different vehicles to move from one area to
another.
In Manila, NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco said Honasan and Lacson should
surrender to authorities now so they could lead normal lives and resume
their campaign.
Wycoco also said Honasan and Lacson should be "brave enough" to come out of
hiding and explain their side, like Enrile and Maceda who were arrested in
their homes and brought to Camp Crame for investigation.
Citing intelligence information, Wycoco said Honasan and Lacson were
initially together but were now separately hiding outside Metro Manila.
Wycoco disclosed that another suspected instigator, Senior Supt. Cesar
Mancao of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force, had
earlier sent surrender feelers to the NBI but changed his mind. Mendoza said
that for as long as Lacson and Honasan were on the run, their alleged plan
for a "power grab" would be a continuing threat.
He said the "ringleaders" of the power grab should not be allowed to
"regroup."
Police have secured airstrips, airports and seaports all over Southern
Mindanao following intelligence reports that Honasan and Lacson were
planning to use the "southern backdoor" for their escape.
Senior Supt. Eduardo Matillano, police chief in Southern Mindanao, said
that based on PNP intelligence sources, Lacson and Honasan were planning to
use an airport or seaport in Davao and in Zamboanga City to slip out.
Perez said the rebellion charge against Enrile was based on the "speeches
and conduct" exhibited during the loyalist rallies at the Edsa Shrine.
He also alleged that Enrile "initially did lead the march (to Malacanang).
The prosecutors said so." Inquirer, 05/04/2001
SEN. SANTIAGO SAYS SHE WILL ARREST ARRESTING OFFICERS: This promises to be
a virtual action movie starring Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
The reelectionist senator yesterday declared that she would resist any
attempt by authorities to arrest and detain her for her supposed role in
instigating Joseph Estrada's loyalists to march from the Edsa Shrine to
Malacanang to force President Macapagal-Arroyo to step down.
She told reporters at the Commission on Elections office in Intramuros,
Manila, where she filed a petition seeking a postponement of the May 14
elections, that she would pull a ``citizen's arrest'' on her arresting
officers for supposed violation of Section 266 of the Omnibus Election
Code.
Asked how she intended to arrest officers like Senior Supt. Reynaldo
Berroya, now intelligence chief of the Philippine National Police, Santiago
replied: "Watch me!" The action could be as exciting as an Estrada movie.
Agence France Presse reported that Santiago displayed a 9-mm pistol on her
desk and said in a television interview: "I will defend myself. I will not
come quietly when they come to take me away." Among those who might attempt
to do that is a 100-member "civilian arresting team" formed yesterday by the
Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC).
The VACC said the team was formed to help authorities locate and arrest
those suspected of fomenting a rebellion against the Macapagal
administration.
It is divided into small units composed of 10 members each, and its targets
are, among others, Santiago and her co-candidates under the Puwersa ng
Masa, Sen. Gregorio Honasan and ex-PNP chief Panfilo Lacson, the VACC said.
The anti-crime group has also set up two 24-hour hotlines, (400-0715 and
0917-3553744) to receive information from the public on the suspects'
whereabouts.
If ever, revenge would be particularly sweet for VACC president and chair
Dante Jimenez and vice president and spokesperson Lauro Vizconde, who both
claimed to having been persecuted by pro-Estrada personalities. Inquirer,
05/04/2001
US, UK GOVERNMENTS BACK ARROYO: The governments of the United States and
the United Kingdom expressed support yesterday for the legitimacy of the
Arroyo administration in the wake of the assault on Malacanang by
supporters of ousted President Joseph Estrada.
In a statement, the US Embassy urged Estrada's supporters to "respect the
rule of law and let the judicial process take its course."
"The Constitution of the Philippines should be respected by all. Violence
has no place in a democracy," read the statement. "The legitimacy of the
Arroyo government has been reaffirmed by the country's democratic
institutions and we recognize this legitimacy."
The British government expressed hope that opposing parties in yesterday's
violent incident in Manila will be able to resolve the conflict peacefully
and in accordance with the Constitution.
British Embassy spokesperson Neale Jagoa said the British government also
recognized that the Philippines has a constitutionally mandated government.
Jagoa pointed out that British government would not meddle in the affairs
of Manila but advised nationals currently in the Philippines to stay away
from political gatherings.
Last January, the international community, led by the US government,
welcomed the peaceful succession of power in the Philippines after Mrs.
Arroyo was sworn in as the 14th president of the Republic.
The US has continued to recognize the legitimacy of the new government even
after Estrada questioned Mrs. Arroyo's takeover. Phil. Star, 05/02/2001
GMA URGED TO LIFT REBELLION DECLARATION: House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte
Jr. yesterday joined the opposition in urging President Macapagal-Arroyo to
lift her declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila following
Tuesday's riot by supporters of deposed leader Joseph Estrada.
"It (Ms Macapagal's declaration of a state of rebellion) sends some wrong
signals," Belmonte, who is running for mayor of Quezon City, told a news
conference.
Opposition leaders described Ms Macapagal's declaration as "a prelude to
martial law," an attempt to silence critics, and cripple Estrada's
political allies in the local and congressional elections on May 14.
"There is no legal basis for the so-called state of rebellion. This is an
abnormality . . . a mask for an undeclared martial law. There is no
proclamation at all, only a press statement," said Edgardo Angara, Laban ng
Demokratikong Pilipino president and senatorial candidate.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said Tuesday's riots did not warrant such a
declaration, adding it was "meaningless unless there was an intention to
declare martial law."
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines also condemned the declaration,
saying there was no rebellion but merely "a state of lawless violence and
perhaps sedition." The country's association of lawyers said in a statement
that the declaration of a state of rebellion was "obviously a prelude to and
justification for, a declaration of martial law or a suspension of the
privilege of the writ of habeas corpus."
In his news conference, Belmonte said the President should immediately lift
her declaration of a state of rebellion, saying the "situation now was
pretty much under control." Angara and other opposition leaders said Ms
Macapagal was not justified in declaring a state of rebellion.
Former Defense Secretary Orlando S. Mercado, also an opposition senatorial
candidate, urged the President to lift her order and send government troops
back to the barracks.
Former Press Secretary Ricardo "Dong" Puno, also a senatorial candidate of
the LDP-Puwersa ng Masa coalition, said there was no need for such a
declaration, adding the government was "using a Howitzer to kill a fly."
Puno said that the government could clamp down on press freedom next.
LDP legal counsel Avelino Cruz said there was no rebellion in the first
place, insisting that the mob at Mendiola "was not an armed group." The
Integrated Bar of the Philippines said that the declaration of a state of
rebellion was only intended to justify the warrantless arrest of senators
identified with Estrada.
The IBP also argued that peace and order could be restored without the
government resorting to such measures. Sen. Renato Cayetano, however
defended Ms Macapagal's declaration of a state of rebellion as "legally and
constitutionally correct."
Cayetano said it was a political decision "based on her own evaluation of
the facts and reports that are available to her." Inquirer, 05/03/2001
ERAP LOYALISTS RIOT COST P100 MILLION: About P100 million worth of private
and government property were either destroyed or damaged during clashes
between government forces and supporters of jailed former President Joseph
Estrada on Tuesday, the Western Police District (WPD) yesterday said.
The estimate made by WPD director Senior Supt. Nicolas Pacinos Jr. was five
times bigger than that by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. Pasinos said only four
civilians, allegedly Estrada loyalists, and a Manila policeman were killed
during the clashes. A day after the clashes, Manila City Hall sweepers and
engineering crew began cleaning up the mess left by the rioters.
Burned by the protesters during the clash were three pickups (two owned by
ABS-CBN and one by ABC-5), a fire truck, an ambulance and the wrecker that
was towing it, a private car, a WPD prowl car and two motorcycles, a
backhoe equipment and generator used in the construction of the Light Rail
Transit II.
Also damaged were a Philippine Army jeep, at least 10 police and military
fire trucks and buses, and other private vehicles. At least five other media
vehicles were also damaged. The rioters stoned the vehicles.
Police operations aimed at rounding up the remaining Estrada loyalists in
Sta. Mesa resulted in damage to several shops, including an ATM booth on R.
Magsaysay Boulevard and Santolan Road. Several stores on C.M. Avenue and J.P.
Laurel Street were also stoned and looted by the protesters. On Rizal Avenue
in Sta. Cruz, fleeing loyalists stoned lampposts and traffic lights.
Before the Estrada supporters marched to Malacanang, they vandalized the
Edsa Shrine where they had gathered for six days. Pacinos himself was
surprised by the trail of destruction left by the protesters.
"I cannot imagine what kind of people they are . . . It's only now that I
see such violence," he told the INQUIRER. Asked why the protesters were able
to penetrate the Palace's perimeter defenses, he said, "We could easily
disperse them if we were ordered to shoot . . . but we were told to exercise
maximum tolerance. Later we had to retreat [because we were outnumbered)."
"We can't stop them unless we shoot," he said. "I need only 100 heavily
armed men to do it."
Atienza also condemned the Estrada supporters, saying "there is no place in
the city for anarchists, hooligans and vandals." Inquirer, 05/03/2001
RAM DISOWNS HONASAN: The Rebolusyonaryong Alyansang Makabansa has dissociated
itself from its former leader, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, who is being hunted by
the government as one of the alleged plotters in a reported attempt to grab
power.
"He's not with us anymore. He broke away from us," said former Commodore
Domingo Calajate, who used to chair the military rebel group, which
launched several failed coups against the Aquino administration.
Three other military men also previously affiliated with RAM are also
wanted by the authorities for their alleged involvement in the attempted
power grab.
These are Brig. Marcelino Malajacan, who was Honasan's operations officer
in the coup attempts against Aquino in the 1980s; Chief Supt. Victor Batac
and Senior Supt. Diosdado Valeroso.
Honasan is also acknowledged to be the "supremo" of the Guardians, a
military-based group allied with RAM. Some of its members were allegedly
enlisted by Honasan to participate in the failed power grab. Calajate noted
however, that the Guardians is divided into several factions, the biggest of
which is led by former Col. Billy Bibit who is in turn allied with the
mainstream RAM.
It was the Guardian members whom Honasan tried to recruit into the reported
coup plot who reported the senator's activities to the RAM headquarters.
"RAM is solidly behind the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-
Arroyo," Calajate said. "We cannot be a party to anything that will
destabilize the administration."
Calajate said that although Honasan has neither been expelled from RAM, nor
resigned from the group, he and RAM have effectively parted ways.
He said Honasan, who is seeking reelection under the pro-Estrada coalition,
may have to pay the price in the May 14 elections. Inquirer, 05/03/2001
NBI HUNTS 'FINANCIER' OF FAILED REBELLION: The National Bureau of
Investigation is preparing to arrest a supposed financier of the Estrada
loyalists.
NBI Director Reynaldo Wycoco told reporters yesterday that the government
would use those arrested among the "mob" that stormed Malacanang as
witnesses to pin down the financier whom he refused to name.
According to Wycoco, the supposed "financier of the failed rebellion" is an
incumbent government official who is not seeking reelection and who is not
a businessman." He claimed that the government was now holding witnesses who
could prove that the financier backed the loyalist rallies at Edsa and the
attack on Malacanang with money, food, vehicles and medicines.
Wycoco also said most of those who were arrested during the Tuesday siege
tested positive for drugs. Leaders of militant groups said that to thwart
further challenges, the Macapagal administration should dismantle the
economic and political base of the Estrada camp and should not stop until all
the "ringleaders" of the failed power grab were arrested.
"Unless these are done, the opposition will keep on trying to overthrow the
government, just like what it did during the Aquino administration," Satur
Ocampo, president of the party-list group Bayan Muna, said in a phone
interview.
He said it was necessary to cripple Estrada's "financiers" to prevent them
from organizing big rallies like those mounted by the loyalists at Edsa.
Bayan Muna also questioned the government's plan to admit Santiago as state
witness and the non-inclusion of Estrada son JV Ejercito in the charge
sheet. Inquirer, 05/03/2001
NO MARTIAL LAW – GMA: No, she has no plans of doing a Ferdinand Marcos.
President Arroyo, who imposed a "state of rebellion" in Metro Manila the
other day, said yesterday she does not intend to declare martial law. And
Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said special powers assumed by the Chief
Executive in the face of an alleged power grab by supporters of jailed
ex-President Joseph Estrada will not last more than a few days.
As the "state of rebellion" entered its second day in Metro Manila,
relative calm returned to areas surrounding Malacanang, the battleground of
Tuesday's violent confrontations between rabid Estrada loyalists and
government troops.
Manila was peaceful, with no signs of attempts by Estrada forces to regroup
a day after they besieged the Palace, clashing with riot police and
soldiers, burning vehicles and causing at least four deaths. Residents near
Malacanang awoke yesterday to discover roadblocks with police checking
civilians for guns while Army troops remained positioned around the Palace.
Even as business was back to normal, heavily armed soldiers patrolled
Mendiola street leading to the Palace. An army of cleaners was dispatched
to clear the area of burnt vehicles and rubbish left behind by pro-Estrada
rioters.
The historic Our Lady of EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City, which was taken
over by Estrada loyalists prior to the Palace assault, was also being
secured by Army soldiers. Armored personnel carriers (APCs) were positioned
on Ortigas Avenue.
All entry points to Malacanang were barricaded with steel railings, barbed
wires and container vans. At least seven APCs were on standby, as Palace
security personnel put on a show of force to prevent a repetition of the
rebellion.
The President's declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila last
Tuesday allowed police to make arrests without warrants.
A state of rebellion, described as the lowest form of emergency security
powers, is the first of three steps allowed under the Constitution,
followed by the suspension of habeas corpus rights and the declaration of
martial law.
The Puwersa ng Masa-Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (PnM-LDP) accused the
Arroyo administration of hiding behind the declaration to pursue a
witchhunt against political enemies.
Legal analysts had claimed that such special powers can only be imposed for
a maximum 60 days and any extension would need congressional approval.
Perez denied that the government would impose a curfew or suspend any other
civil rights.
But the President said she will no longer allow street demonstrations,
ordering hundreds of police and soldiers on duty to arrest those rising up
again rather than try to disperse them.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said
his troops were on alert to prevent a repetition of the violent riots but
stressed "we are in full control of Manila and we are assuring that this
will not happen again."
Villanueva warned that if Estrada supporters start to regroup, "if they are
fomenting something, they will be dispersed." For its part, the Ateneo Human
Rights Center (AHRC) said the declaration exists in accordance with Article
7, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution.
"Under this provision, President Arroyo can call on the Armed Forces to
suppress lawless violence or rebellion, and it is for her to decide whether
rebellion exists," AHRC said in a statement.
AHRC also called for the exercise and application of the full force of the
law against plotters and instigators of the violence last Tuesday.
The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) commended the
Arroyo administration for "doing all it can within the law" to end anarchy
and chaos the other day.
Meanwhile, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) chairman Crispin Beltran expressed
support yesterday for the President's declaration. Beltran said Mrs. Arroyo
made the right decision, considering Malacanang was under attack. The KMU
however, asked the government to ensure no abuses are committed by law
enforcers.
The Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA) said it endorses the declaration
of a state of rebellion and the quick arrest of suspected instigators of
the Malacanang assault.
The group further commended the Philippine National Police and the AFP for
the extreme maximum tolerance with which they handled the misguided crowd.
People Power Coalition senatorial candidate Ernesto Herrera likewise
praised the police and military for exercising maximum restraint and
discipline in the effort to quell the Mendiola violence. Phil. Star,
05/03/2001
MACAPAGAL ON MARTIAL LAW: 'DON'T TEMPT ME'
INQ7.net with AFP, May 02, 2001
"HUWAG akong tuksuhin"("Don’t tempt me") was President Macapagal-Arroyo's
response to questions on whether her declaration of a state of rebellion was a
prelude to the declaration of martial law, according to a report aired today
over GMA Network radio station DzBB.
In the report, Ms Macapagal warned foes to avoid any action that could goad
her into taking on more emergency powers after a failed mob attack on her
official residence.
She declared a "state of rebellion" in Manila on Tuesday after government
forces repulsed an attack on Malacanang palace by thousands of followers of
jailed predecessor Joseph Estrada. The declaration allowed police to detain
rioters and their backers without a court order.
Asked about criticism by some civil libertarians that the declaration was a
step away from martial rule, Ms Macapagal said: "They should not tempt me."
She added: "If they step it up will I have any other choice?"
A day after the worst outburst of rioting in 15 years, Manila's 10.5 million
residents awoke Wednesday to find military checkpoints and armored vehicles
in major streets.
The President said all public assemblies by pro-Estrada forces would be
banned immediately, and the police would promptly disperse all their rallies.
She said the May 14 legislative and local administrative elections "can
proceed" despite the latest crisis.
Under the Philippine system, the independent Commission on Elections
determines the poll schedule.
Police detained opposition Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and launched a manhunt
for several other alleged masterminds of the march on Malacanang palace
including Senator Gregorio Honasan and Estrada's former police chief Panfilo
Lacson.
Enrile, Honasan and Lacson are all running for Senate seats.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said the
military did not plan to reduce the number of military units deployed in
Manila for the time being, even though he believed the Estrada forces no
longer had the capability to mount another attempt to march on the palace.
He said the troops would remain in their positions to prevent possible "acts
of sabotage", while stressing that they would only be working in support of
the police.
"We will provide the manpower and we will provide the firepower if necessary"
Adan said. Estrada was toppled by a popular revolt in January and arrested
last week on a charge of economic plunder, punishable by death, for allegedly
amassing 80 million dollars in illicit wealth through kickbacks and
embezzlement.
ITS FINAL ERAP SUPPORTERS FACE REBELLION CHARGES-GOV'T.
INQ7.net,May 02, 2001
AFTER reviewing the evidence gathered in the aftermath of the violent
Malacañang siege, the government said it has finalized the rebellion charges
against Estrada supporters who trooped to the Palace and personalities who
allegedly plotted the failed uprising.
A radio DzBB radio report said Criminal Investigation and Detention Group
chief Ernesto Gualberto has affirmed the rebellion charges based on evidence
gathered from Estrada supporters in Mendiola including homemade shotguns
improvised caliber .38 guns or "paltik", stones and shields.
Gualberto said several segments of video footage taken during the massing of
Estrada supporters and affidavits from witnesses were also reviewed and will
be used for the rebellion charges against some of the opposition senatorial
bets who were at Edsa.
The government has thus finalized the rebellion charges filed against
opposition senatoriables Juan Ponce Enrile, Gringo Honasan, Panfilo Lacson
and former Ambassador Ernesto Maceda.
Reelectioinist Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, which the government earlier
said could face the lesser crime of inciting to sedition, is the latest
opposition bet to be charged with rebellion.
ESTRADA ARRAIGNMENT MOVED TO JUNE 27
Inquirer News Service, May 01, 2001
THE SANDIGANBAYAN yesterday ordered jailed ex-President Estrada to appear in
court on June 27 for his arraignment on a plunder charge, moving the date
from May 3 on the request of government prosecutors.
At the same time, the anti-graft court reassured Philippine National Police
chief Leandro Mendoza of his “discretionary power” to transfer Estrada, who
has been confined at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center for a medical check-
up, to a detention house in Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
The directives were issued during a hearing yesterday tackling several issues
including Estrada’s transfer and a motion for bail filed by lawyer and co-
accused Edward Serapio. Government lawyers said Estrada would remain behind
bars until the court decides whether to grant him bail.
In the same hearing, the director of the Veterans hospital, Dr. Salvador
Flores, said that check-ups such as the one Estrada is undergoing usually
last about five days.
Another issue concerned an omnibus motion filed by San Juan Mayor Jinggoy
Estrada to post bail, get the case dropped, and be released. Estrada and son
were thrown in jail last week after being indicted on charges of economic
plunder, a crime which carries the maximum penalty of death.
Serapio surrendered to police while five other defendants are at large.
Earlier yesterday, the court set the arraignment of Estrada, his son and
Serapio for 2 p.m. on May 3, but during an afternoon hearing, government
lawyers asked that the date be postponed, a move that was supported by
defense lawyers.
The government lawyers later explained that the move was made because of
"pending incidents" in the case, like petitions for bail and other motions.
The Estrada defense panel asked for the arraignment to be scheduled sometime
in July but the prosecution asked that it be held next week. The court
compromised and set the June 27 date.
'Vagueness of law'
"(Defense lawyers) were questioning the indictment, the constitutionality of
the indictment which we believe they are going to use as a basis for raising
it to the Supreme Court later on,” Ricardo Nepomuceno, a private prosecutor
said. He emphasized that he was speaking as a member of the group of private
prosecutors.
Among the issues expected to be raised are questions concerning the "vagueness"
of the plunder law and how it affects persons accused only of participating
in single acts, as in the cases of the younger Estrada and Serapio.
"If that is their position, that means that they would not want to be
arraigned on an unconstitutional indictment. We do not want them arraigned
until the court says that the indictment is valid", he added.
"Why don’t they want to be arraigned? The process goes like this--before you
can be allowed to ask for bail, you should not only be arrested, you should
be arraigned. If you plead guilty, you are foreclosed from asking bail . . .
if you plead not guilty, then the process starts", he said.
Nepomuceno also noted that Estrada’s lawyers had notified the court that they
had just received the notice for the May 3 arraignment and would not agree to
any arraignment prior to any Supreme Court decision on the validity of the
law.
Former Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo
who was fired by then President Estrada, was at yesterday's hearing. Asked
if his presence meant that he would be joining the defense team, Cuevas
brushed off the question, saying that he had merely been driving around and
ended up in the court.
MACEDA ARRESTED FOR REBELLION
AFP, Inquirer, May 02, 2001
FORMER Philippine ambassador to the United States, Ernesto Maceda, was
arrested today for allegedly helping plot violent riots aimed at toppling
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Maceda, a former Senate president and spokesman of jailed ex-president Joseph
Estrada, was arrested at his home in a Manila suburb by rifle-toting
policemen but offered no resistance.
He apparently expected the arrest and was fully dressed and prepared to be
taken in. "Are you arresting me?" reporters on the scene quoted Maceda as
saying. The leader of the team responded: "Yes, sir."
Maceda released a statement denying involvement in plotting the attempt by
some 8,000 pro-Estrada supporters to storm the presidential palace on Tuesday
in what Macapagal called an attempt to grab power.
Another opposition leader, re-electionist Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, and two
generals were arrested on Tuesday for alleged involvement in the worst street
riots in Manila in 15 years. Maceda's arrest left six more people on the
wanted list released by the government, although authorities were believed
to be investigating additional alleged conspirators.
MACAPAGAL DECLARES STATE OF REBELLION
Inquirer News Service, May 01, 2001,
AS THE country’s worst political violence in 15 years exploded around her
101-day-old government, President Macapagal-Arroyo this morning ordered
troops to disperse thousands of Estrada supporters who had reached the gates
of Malacañang.
Earlier, looking exhausted after a second consecutive sleepless night, Ms
Macapagal made a nationally televised statement, blaming key opposition
leaders for incensing the followers of jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada in
an effort to install a junta for their own benefit.
She said two policemen guarding the Palace were killed by protesters and
commiserated with their families. "The vandalism, robbery and injury and
deaths are the work of these politicians," the President said.
"They should be blamed for all of this. They will be made to answer to the
country for these crimes," she said in a hastily called press conference in
Malacañang at 9:15 a.m.
"It is clear that their objective is to bring down the legitimate government
so that if they succeed, they can put up their own junta and rule the country"
she said. Ms Macapagal said that officials had discovered an attempt by
Estrada, who was flown from a military hospital today to a special detention
center in Laguna, to publicly reclaim the presidency.
Estrada left behind a draft declaration at the hospital in which he would
"announce his return from a leave of absence" from the presidency. She made
the statement as top military officials, including Chief of Staff Diomedio
Villanueva repeated that the Armed Forces of the Philippines remains united
behind the government.
"The Armed Forces are very much intact, very much united. Those suggestions
that there are cracks in the ranks are not true,’’ AFP spokesperson Brig.
Gen. Edilberto Adan said in a television interview after the angry pro-
Estrada mob tried to storm Malacañang.
'Appeared calm'
At the press conference, Ms Macapagal appeared calm, although she was
surrounded by heavily armed members of the Presidential Security Guard in
full battle gear. Opposition candidates "took advantage of the innocent
civilians to push their candidacies and their political future," she said.
"These politicians are the ones who caused the crowd of Edsa to swell through
their calls."
"They were the ones who arose passion and anger of the people of Edsa with
their inflammatory speeches and they planned to make Monday night a night of
war and attack on the Palace."
"The issue here is justice and our capacity to enforce the law. It is my duty
as president to enforce the law," she said. She reiterated that there is "no
politics in the case of Estrada."
She said the case of the former president "is a case between him and the
court." The President also thanked all the troops and civilians who have been
"protecting me and the republic." She ended her speech without taking
questions from Palace reporters.
'Legal charges'
The President “is okay, she is here in Malacañang. She is not worried. We are
in full control of the situation,’’ presidential chief of staff Renato Corona
told reporters as the Estrada supporters marched on the Palace.
Corona said the government was considering legal charges against the
politicians who had incited the crowd which had been massing at the Edsa
Shrine since last Wednesday, when Estrada was arrested for plunder.
"We have to study that seriously. This happened because some politicians were
inciting with seditious statements, encouraging an actual rebellion of the
government", he said. Some officials downplayed the significance of the
clashes.
"As far as we are concerned, this is not a large-scale rebellion or
insurrection, just a rampage of mindless people who have absolutely no love
for the country," Corona said.
`Unlike Indonesia’
Added House of Representatives speaker Feliciano Belmonte: "We will not
become like Indonesia, where upheavals are nonstop. This is just one incident
an outpouring of emotion."
Presidential spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao called it a "last-ditch desperate
effort" by Estrada's allies. He accused them of using the demonstrators to
bait the government into an unpopular crackdown. The AFP spokesperson said
that there were attempts by the opposition “to influence and entice our
officers but this was immediately reported to our superior commanders so we
acted at once."
Adan did not say who tried to lure the officers into defecting but a day
earlier, Ms Macapagal said she had stopped a "power grab" by the Estrada
camp.
"Last night, there was going to be a power grab, but it fizzled out," she
said Monday. "I was hoping they would act so I could crush them."
'Ramos'
Hours before the new turmoil erupted, former President Fidel Ramos, who was
in Washington, slammed the "economic plunder" of Estrada, but promised the
country's tottering economy could rise again.
"We must now face up to the enormity of the Estrada legacy of corruption and
cronyism", Ramos told an audience of businessmen and policymakers from the
Asia Society in a luxury Washington hotel.
Ramos expressed strong support for the policies of President Macapagal,
saying the new president would work hard to restructure business confidence,
and complete structural reforms, He insisted that despite its travails, the
Philippines boosted sound economic fundamentals and that economic recovery
could begin before the end of this year.
MOB VIOLENCE: 3 DEAD, 113 INJURED: Two policemen and a demonstrator have
been killed and about 113 injured, including a dozen riot police as
violence swept through the Nagtahan area in Manila near the presidential
palace.
The Red Cross said at least 101 protesters sustained "various injuries"
from cuts, bullets and gashes, with 36 patients needing confinement in
hospitals and the rest sent home after first aid treatment.
Police said 12 policemen were also wounded while more than 40 others were
arrested.
The government said the situation is now under control following President
Macapagal's declaration of a state of rebellion in Metro Manila, with the
remaining Estrada protesters having been dispersed from Mendiola Bridge
near the palace.
Police said a protester was also killed but gave no details. Earlier, a
local television station showed the body of an unidentified man described
as a demonstrator, with what appeared to be a bullet wound in the forehead.
Radio reports said that a Red Cross ambulance had been burned by rioters
and fast food outlets in the Nagtahan area near Malacanang Palace were
vandalized.
A excavating machine, a police car, a police motorcycle, three vans of a
local television station and a private car were set on fire by the rioters
as they fled in the face of advancing riot police.
National police chief Leandro Mendoza said one of the policemen was killed
by a shot from a homemade shotgun, a popular weapon in Manila's underworld.
A television report also said that another policeman was killed after he
was stoned and mauled by unruly Estrada supporters who had penetrated a
police barricade.
The protesters, many of them young men stripped to the waist, reportedly
drunk or high on drugs, also wielded pipes, spiked clubs, knives and rocks
which they hurled at riot police. Inquirer, 05/01/2001
ESTRADA URGES CALM BUT DENOUNCES MACAPAGAL
INQ7.net, May 01, 2001
JAILED former president Joseph Estrada on Tuesday urged his followers to
refrain from violence following bloody riots, but condemned his successor
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and said, "the struggle has just begun."
"I earnestly call on our people today for calm and sobriety, and to exercise
restraint in the face of the grave crisis facing our nation today," he said
in a statement faxed to Manila media from a special detention center south of
the capital.
"I am certain that we are fighting for a just cause, but we must pursue this
through peaceful and non-violent means," he added. Insisting that he had just
"temporarily" given up the presidency in January, when a popular revolt
ended his scandal-tainted administration, Estrada blamed Macapagal for the
bloodshed in the capital when his followers marched on the presidential
palace.
One policeman and two civilians were killed, 138 injured and more than 100
arrested following the pre-dawn attempt to seize the palace, according to the
latest tally. He said the blood of the victims was "now in the hands of those
in power."
"They shall be accountable to our people and to the coming generations of
Filipinos on this shameful and irresponsible act," he said.
"The struggle has just begun and I am certain that no government or its
minions can forever suppress the legitimate grievances of a vigilant people.
We must remain vigilant," he added.
Estrada has been charged with economic plunder, which is punishable by death
for allegedly amassing 80 million dollars in illicit wealth through kickbacks
and embezzlement. He is being held along with his politician son Jose
"Jinggoy" Ejercito in a police training camp south of the capital.
MACAPAGAL HINTS FILING SEDITION CHARGES VS. PRO-ESTRADA LEADERS
INQ7.net, May 01, 2001
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has hinted filing sedition charges against
those behind the march of supporters of jailed ousted president Joseph
Estrada.
In a statement she read this morning in Malacañang, Ms Macapagal said
political allies of Estrada instigated the violent surge of rallyists to
Malacanang that led to the death of two policemen, who were allegedly shot
by the protesters using hand-made guns.
Without naming them, Ms Macapagal said she would apply the full force of the law
in dealing with the said politicians. "These politicians took advantage of
the Edsa rallies to advance their political agenda," Macapagal said. "They
carefully planned the march on Monday to attack Malacañang."
The President said she gathered evidence that Estrada signed a document at
Veterans Memorial Medical Center, where he was under medical check-up for
the past few days, that he would emerge from his leave of absence and regain
the presidency.
Estrada to this day claims he is still the constitutional president on-leave
despite a unanimous Supreme Court decision that legitimizes the Macapagal-
Arroyo presidency. With this, Estrada might also be charged with sedition
Interior Secretary Jose Lina said.
ANGRY MOB STORMS PALACE
INQ7.net, May 01, 2001
ESTRADA supporters, numbering in the tens of thousands, marched towards
Malacañang Palace shortly before two o'clock Tuesday morning, and threatened
to overrun the presidential palace gates.
A contingent of military and police were defending the Palace up to this
minute as the mob appeared unwilling to leave the area of Malacañang near
Mendiola despite the barrage of water cannons and tear gas.
The Estrada loyalists said that they would not leave the Palace until
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down from office, and former
president Joseph Estrada is restored to power.
One policeman has been confirmed dead and scores injured following clashes
between the Estrada supporters and anti-riot police in Sta. Mesa and Mendiola.
One member of the Civil Disturbance Unit was seen in recorded footage being
stoned after he slipped on the ground while retreating from the mob.
The huge number of people that marched to Malacañang from the Edsa Shrine
easily breached the human barricades set up by the police. As the police
retreated, the mob commandeered police trucks and picked up leftover shields
helmets and truncheons. After breaking down the Ortigas and Sta. Mesa police
barriers, the crowd was within easy street of the Palace.
Estrada forces took over Mendiola Bridge within two hours after they left
Edsa, where they had been holding daily rallies since Wednesday when their
idol was arrested and jailed for plunder.
The unruly mob easily overwhelmed the small group of anti-Estrada rallyists
who were holding a vigil at Mendiola ahead of the massive Labor Day rally
planned for today. Meantime, Estrada has been moved to his new detention
center at the Special Action Forces training center in Fort Sto. Domingo
Sta. Rosa, Laguna.
Reports said that Estrada was airlifted from the Veterans Memorial Medical
Center where he was undergoing a medical check-up, shortly before his
followers captured Mendiola.
Presidential chief of staff Renato Corona blamed the politicians who spoke
at the pro-Estrada rallies at the Edsa Shrine for provoking them into
marching towards Malacañang.
"If they didn't make incendiary remarks this wouldn't have happened," Corona
said. Regarding the violence that had erupted, Corona said that the police
were only "provoked" into defending themselves. In addition, he said that the
government has the responsibility to keep the presidency intact and to
protect the seat of government.
But he said that the people had nothing to be afraid of and that the
government was in control of the situation. The police and the military
continue to exercise maximum tolerance, Corona said.
In a separate interview, Corona said that the government was considering
filing sedition charges against Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Gringo Honasan
Miriam Defensor-Santiago and former police chief Panfilo Lacson.
The four are all candidates for senator of the opposition Puwersa ng Masa
and had urged the Estrada loyalists gathered at Edsa to storm Malacañang to
topple the Macapagal-Arroyo government.
US REAFFIRMS SUPPORT FOR MACAPAGAL-ARROYO GOV'T
INQ7.net, May 01, 2001
THE United States has reaffirmed its support for the Macapagal-Arroyo
government amid threats of destabilization from supporters of jailed ousted
president Joseph Estrada.
US Embassy spokesman Michael Anderson said "violence has no place in the
democracy" and that both sides should settle the matter "peacefully" and
"constitutionally, and respect the rule of law.
LACSON, HONASAN, MACEDA, 2 GENERALS ORDERED ARRESTED
INQ7.net with AFP, May 01, 2001
AN Arrest warrant has been issued for former Philippine National Police chief
Panfilo Lacson, Senator Gregorio Honasan, former ambassador to the United
States Ernesto Maceda, and two active-duty generals.
At least one general was already in custody, a police intelligence official
said. Earlier, fellow opposition figures Senators Juan Ponce Enrile and
Miriam Defensor Santiago were also ordered arrested by authorities as the
Macapagal government declared a state of rebellion in Metro Manila.
The government made the move against the opposition politicians, identified
with fallen president Joseph Estrada, for instigating the attack on the
presidential palace early this morning, a senior police official said.
One of the active duty generals, police Chief Superintendent Victor Batac was
already in custody, Senior Superintendent Reynaldo Berroya, the national
police intelligence chief, said in a television interview.
Berroya said the arrest orders were issued by Justice Secretary Hernando
Perez following the declaration of a state of rebellion by President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, which allows for emergency arrests without court warrants.
