Estrada granted furlough days before verdict

Ousted Philippine president Joseph Estrada got a furlough from house arrest to visit his ailing mother yesterday, three days before a court will hand down its verdict in his plunder trial.

Police the 70-year-old former leader to the hospital in his suburban hometown of San Juan from his sprawling estate in eastern Rizal Province, where he has been under house arrest for most of the six-year trial.

Doctors Estrada's 102-year-old mother underwent a tracheostomy to aid her breathing and uses a feeding tube, but was in stable condition yesterday at the San Juan Medical Center, where she was admitted last month.

One Estrada's lawyers, Rene Saguisag, had asked the court to let the former president visit his mother "to accommodate a deep yearning of a son to be with a dearly beloved mother, whose time may soon be up, as it were."

The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court gave Estrada a 10-hour pass.

The court announced on Friday it will hand down its verdict on Wednesday. The trial ran from October 2001 to June 15 of this year.

Court Renato Bocar said the verdict will cover Estrada, who left the presidential palace amid massive street protests in 2001; his son, Jinggoy Estrada; and lawyer Eduardo Serapi.

Estrada, the second president toppled by a popular revolt after dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986, is accused of illegally amassing about 4 billion pesos (US$81 million). He also is charged with falsely declaring his assets.

He has denied the charges and accused his successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, of conspiring forg his removal with leaders of the Roman Catholic Church and senior military officers.

Estrada, a former movie actor who often portrayed underdog heroes, has repeatedly said he was confident of an acquittal, and has rejected suggestions of a pardon.

Saguisag said Estrada was not interested in regaining power if acquitted, and has promised "not to do anything incompatible with the national interest."

Police said they will deploy about 6,000 officers and soldiers for possible unrest by Estrada's supporters when the verdict is announced on Wednesday.