Philippine Former President Fails to Submit Counter-Affidavit Before DeadlinePhilippine Ombudsman will go on initiating criminal proceedings against ousted President Joseph Estrada after he failed to beat the deadline for the submission of his counter-affidavit Monday.Estrada's lawyers should have filed their client's answer to seven complaints of economic plunder, graft, malversation, bribery and perjury. But until local time 17:00 p.m. (GMT 9:00 am) Monday, the deadline of a five-day extension for Estrada's submission of counter-affidavit, the lawyers of Estrada didn't appear, prompting the members of Ombudsman Special Preliminary Investigation Panel to terminate the preliminary investigation, local newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer reported Tuesday. Ombudsman Aniano Desierto pointed out that based on the pieces of evidence submitted by the complainants "there's already a prima facie evidence " to warrant the formal filing of the charges against Estrada in court. Estrada, who was toppled by a military-backed popular uprising on January 20, is now facing seven charges filed by private prosecutors and the Department of Justice to the Ombudsman on economic plunder. |
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