Philippine Ex-President Faces Court on Plunder ChargesFormer Philippine President Joseph Estrada appeared in the anti-graft court anew around 2:15 p.m. Tuesday(0615 GMT) for his arraignment on plunder charge, a capital offensive.Estrada will be asked to answer the charges that he plundered a personal fortune of more than four billion pesos (about 80 million U.S. dollars) while in office as well as used an alias to hide ownership of a bank account. According to the Philippine law, the plunder charge, defined as large-scale corruption, is non-bailable and punishable by death. Some 4,500 police officers were deployed in Manila, including some 2,500 around the court building, to ensure the safety of the ousted leader amid reports of assassination plots against him. Tuesday's appearance at the anti-graft court is the second for Estrada since he was arrested and incarcerated on a plunder charge on April 25. The fallen ex-president appeared for the first time in the anti- graft court on June 27 for his arraignment on the lighter charge of perjury for alleged misdeclaration in his statement of assets and liabilities for 1999. Estrada, who came into power in June, 1998, was toppled by a military-backed popular uprising on January 20 this year for corruption scandals. |
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