Ousted Philippine leader Joseph Estrada is to be prosecuted for economic plunder, a crime punishable by death, a spokesman for newly installed President Gloria Arroyo said Saturday.
"There are plunder cases filed" in a special graft court against the former president, said Alex Magno, a spokesman for Arroyo's transition team.
"We congratulate former president Estrada for deciding to stay and face the charges. We expect the legal process to work in its own phase and with a lot of transparency and credibility over the next few weeks and months."
Estrada vacated the presidential palace on Saturday and returned to his private home in suburban Manila, hours after the Supreme Court declared his position vacant and vice president Gloria Arroyo was sworn in as his replacement.
The military and the police had withdrawn their support for Estrada on Friday after the Senate excluded key evidence at his corruption trial and threw the proceedings to a halt. Many Filipinos interpreted their act as a vote for virtual acquittal.
One of the charges in the case involved his alleged diversion of 130 million pesos (2.6 million dollars) in government funds.
Embezzlement of state funds worth 50 million pesos or more is punishable by death under a 1994 law which has never been applied to its full extent against anyone.
Senate president Aquilino Pimentel said Estrada had told him that he would not go into exile and that he was ready to face any charges against him in court.
Pimentel also said Estrada had written a letter asking the Senate to open the sealed bank documents which had been set aside at the corruption trial.
An Estrada friend, Carmelo Santiago, told reporters the contents of the envelope, supposedly containing records of a 3.3. billion-peso (66 million-dollar) savings account in the name of a Jose Velarde.
"We have to formally close the impeachment trial but we will consult with (Supreme Court) Chief justice Hilario Davide first," Pimentel said, referring to the presiding officer of the trial -- MANILA (AFP)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
