Withdrawal of One Case Vs Philippine Ex-President OkayedThe Philippine anti-graft court on Thursday granted the Office of the Ombudsman to withdraw one of the cases it filed against jailed ex-president Joseph Estrada.The case was in connection with Estrada's alleged violations of the code of conduct and ethical standards for government officials for using the Office of the President to collect 545-million-peso (10.2 million U.S. dollar) worth of kickbacks from the country's gambling sector. The prosecution panel welcomed the anti-graft court's decision. However, the disgraced president is still facing the charges of perjury and economic plunder. The pre-trial conference of the two cases have been set by the court on August 2 and September 3, respectively. Estrada, who was brought down from presidency by popular uprising in January, is the first president in the Philippine history to be charged for plunder, a non-bailable offensive punishable by death. |
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