Erap's 'uncovered' trial

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor ERIC T. LORETIZO Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

This is going to be a very exciting day in Metro Manila. Today, former president Joseph Estrada, popularly known as "Erap", is going to be on the witness stand of the SandiganBayan. He will testify on his own behalf, at the hearing of the plunder and perjury charges this administration has filed against him, and he says he has to speak for himself because some of the witnesses in his defense have been bought and kept away from giving testimony.

It has been more than five years now since Estrada left Malacañang Palace and his seat was taken over by his then vice president who, forthwith, filed the charges against him and sent him into detention.

Most Filipinos still recall how hated and maligned "Erap" had been when he got into that motorboat that took him away via the Pasig River. How people jeered when he and his son, then San Juan Mayor Jinggoy Estrada, were virtually thrown into a tiny detention cell carrying their single bags, which they placed on top of the plain and narrow cots that would serve as their beds. Later they were moved to the Veterans Memorial Hospital when the deposed president developed health problems, but even in its more comfortable accommodations, they were still prisoners. The humiliation of the former head of state could not have been greater.

There have been reports, confirmed by the former president himself, that offers for him to leave the country, in effect, going into voluntary exile, had been made to him, which he refused. He has said he wants to stay and see his cases through because he knows that he is not guilty of the charges against him.

Well, today's trial may indicate whether or not his belief is justified. In the meantime, the government has announced that no less than 1,000 policemen will be deployed at Commonwealth Avenue where the office of the SandiganBayan is located, to provide security and maintain order. But it's not only the excessive police presence that should worry Erap and his lawyers. The fact that their request for media coverage of the hearing and of his testimony, has been denied is what alarms those who already fear that a lot of our freedoms are no longer there for us to count on, the assurance of government spokesmen notwithstanding.*