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Four More Cases Against Former Philippine President Dropped
The Ombudsman's Office of the Philippines Tuesday withdrew four more of the eight criminal cases it had filed against former President Joseph Estrada in a move to concentrate on the plunder case.
Denying claims that the new development proves the weakness of the cases against the former chief executive, Ombudsman Aniano Desierto said prosecutors only seek to "focus efforts in prosecuting the main case of plunder" which is punishable by death, not bailable, and still pending before the anti-graft court, the Daily Tribune said Wednesday.
In a press statement, Estrada Tuesday welcome the Ombudsman's announcement, saying "the cases were weak from the start anyway."
The Ombudsman originally filed before the anti-graft court on April 4 eight cases against Estrada, seven of which are bailable including grafts and perjury.
But the Ombudsman withdrew one of them on Monday, which covers charges that Estrada had received 545 million pesos (10.9 million dollars) in bribes from illegal gambling lords.
The anti-graft court issued an arrest warrant on the same day on two of the bailable charges which are that Estrada allegedly pocketed 130 million pesos (2.6 million dollars) in tobacco taxes and misstated his wealth while in office.
Estrada went to the court personally after the arrest order, leaving his fingerprint, photos of mug shots and 40,000 pesos (800 U.S. dollars) of cash bond for his provisional liberty before the trial begins.
He also deposited an additional 113,000 pesos (2,260 dollars) in bail with the court for four other cases so that he would not have to surrender himself when further arrest warrants are issued.
Now Estrada faces only the plunder case, one graft case and one for perjury.
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