 |
Manila to Appeal Court Decision on Estrada Vote
The Philippine government said on Friday that it will appeal the decision of the anti-graft court allowing jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada to cast his vote in Manila.
Presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao cited a condition in the court order that the police must be able to secure Estrada and his son Jose Estrada during the voting.
"We are studying the aspect of appealing the case as per advice by the lawyers," said Tiglao, who earlier said the government was accepting the court's ruling.
The anti-graft court earlier allowed Estrada and his son Jose Estrada to be brought back from a detention center in the neighboring province of Laguna to cast their votes in their hometown in San Juan city, Metro Manila.
The court said the motion should be approved as long as "all necessary precautions for the security and safety of the accused during the duration that they are out of their places of confinement are properly put in operation by the Philippine National Police (NP)."
The motion was filed by Rene Saguisag, in which the lead counsel of Estrada asked the court to afford the former president his right of suffrage to vote on May 14 polls.
Saguisag reasoned out that the Estradas have not been convicted of any crime hence, they should be allowed to vote.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials, however, said former President Joseph Estrada and his son can not vote in their detention center in Laguna.
Comelec commissioner Rex Borra said it is illegal to set up a voting precinct inside the jail cell in Laguna, some 70 kilometers south of Manila.
The mid-term elections will be held in the country next Monday, when more than 17,500 elective congressional and local government posts are up for grabs.
Arrested on April 25 on economic plunder charges, Estrada was moved on May 1, together with his son, to the detention center in Laguna.
Before May 1 when Estrada's supporters launched a violent protest near the Presidential Palace, the Estradas were detained at the PNP headquarters in Manila.
After the highest court made its decision national police chief Leandro Mendoza warned they would have difficulty in providing security as large crowds of Estrada supporters were likely to flock to him when he votes in Manila.
Mendoza said they were already short of officers to protect Estrada as they had assigned most of their policemen to guard election precincts in Monday's elections.
The police chief said they could not land a helicopter at the polling place but would have to land at the police headquarters in Manila and then transport him by land to San Juan about three kilometers away, increasing the risk.
In This Section
|