Estrada sentenced to jail

Philippines corruption court finds ex-president guilty of plunder.

philippines joseph estrada corruption trial
Estrada says the charges against him were trumped up by political opponents [Reuters]

Tight security was deployed across Manila ahead of the verdict, with riot police and soldiers keeping hundreds of flag-waving Estrada supporters several blocks from the Sandiganbayan court building.

 

Heavy security was also tight around the residence of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the Philippine president, who was advised to remain amid warnings of a possible repeat of violent protests seen when Estrada was arrested in 2001.

 

Joseph ‘Erap’ Estrada

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Rose to fame as swashbuckling action film star

 

Held office of mayor in hometown of San Juan for 16 years

 

Cultivated image of supporter of poor and downtrodden

 

Won presidency in 1998 in largest ever landslide

 

Time in office was dogged by allegations of corruption and illegal business ties

 

Senate impeachment proceedings collapse in early 2001, triggering mass protests and forcing Estrada from office

 

Estrada later arrested and charged with plundering state funds

Escorted from court after the verdict Estrada denounced the trial as a sham, saying the special court was “created to convict me”, which he said was already expected.

 

“This is the only forum where I could tell the Filipino people my innocence,” he said.

 

“That’s why I took a gamble. I thought the rule of law will prevail over here. This is really a kangaroo court. This is a political decision.”

 

Plunder is a capital offence, though the death penalty was abolished recently.

 

Passing its verdict the court ordered that $87m frozen in Estrada’s accounts be handed over to the government.

 

The funds, including protection money from illegal gambling operators, embezzled tobacco taxes, and commissions from insider trading, will be “forfeited”, the special anti-graft court said.

 

Special prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said the case showed that a public official can be charged, prosecuted and convicted regardless of his stature.

 

“It shows that our judicial system really works,” he said.

 

Appeal

 

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Estrada supporters held street protests as
the verdict was announced [Reuters]

Minutes after sentencing, Estrada’s lawyer said the former president would appeal the conviction.

 

“He is going to fight this out,” Rufus Rodriguez said. “He will be acquitted in the Supreme Court.”

 

Estrada, known to his supporters as ‘Erap’, has maintained his innocence claiming the charges were trumped up by political opponents.

 

He has accused Arroyo of masterminding his removal from office by conspiring with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and senior military officers.

 

Al Jazeera’s Manila correspondent, Marga Ortigas, says that during the last six years under house arrest Estrada has become the main opposition figure against the Arroyo administration.

 

With Arroyo facing allegations of corruption in her own government, our correspondent says that for many disgruntled Filipinos Estrada represents everything that “could-have-been” and what many feel the current president has failed to be.