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By Jomar Canlas Reporter
The antigraft court and the
police are developing a plan to handle any public disturbance that
might erupt once the decision on the plunder case of former
President Joseph Estrada is announced.
Planning and coordination for
“Oplan Gawad Katarungan” began Wednesday, in anticipation of the
Sandiganbayan verdict, which is expected in two weeks. The law
requires that the court hand down a decision 90 days after the final
arguments. The end of that period is September 14, 2007.
On Wednesday, Sandiganbayan
Sheriff Eduardo Urietta met with Jesus Acpal and Elmo San Diego,
both of whom are deputy directors for the Quezon City Police
District (QCPD).
In that meeting it was decided
that the Quezon City police will deploy 50 personnel inside the
antigraft court compound. The PNP National Capital Regional Police
Office, headed by Deputy Director General Reynaldo Varilla, will
handle security outside.
Meanwhile, Estrada released a
statement accusing the government of being paranoid.
“It is this same paranoia which
is weakening the government from the inside out,” Estrada said.
“How can we hope to live in a strong republic when it seems all
our officials and authorities are focused on fighting off phantom
destabilization plots?”
Estrada was reacting to earlier
reports saying the government will deploy some 6,000 police and
military personnel on the day the verdict is announced.
“This is a clear case of
overkill,” the former president said. “How can the
administration justify deploying 6,000 troops to secure the
Sandiganbayan, while sending a very small contingent to help out
government troops in Basilan?”
If Estrada had wanted to resort
to destabilization, he said he could have done so already during the
course of his long, six-year trial and imprisonment. But he said
that would be counterproductive.
Estrada said he has strived to
wage his fight within the limits of the law “not only because I
believe in the justice system and the rule of law but because any
social upheaval will only create further hardships for the Filipinos
masses.”
“I want to help them out of
their misery, not add to it, “ he added.
Meanwhile, the former president
said he is confident of being acquitted because of “the solid
testimonies of defense witnesses who have shown the inherent
weakness of the government’s case against me, and the
impossibility of some of the accusations made by the prosecution’s
‘star witnesses.’”
Estrada cited in particular the
testimonies of former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., as
well as Equitable-PCI Bank senior officials Romuald Dy Tang and
Beatriz Bagsit. Their testimonies buttressed Estrada’s contention
that it was the businessman Jaime Dichaves, not him, who owned the
controversial Jose Velarde account.
“I have no doubt that their
testimonies have a great impact on my case, because they disprove
the statements made by prosecution witnesses against me,” Estrada
said. “For this alone, I am already confident of an acquittal from
the Sandiganbayan,” he added.
“If people do come out in the
streets during the promulgation of the verdict, it will probably be
to celebrate with me as I regain my freedom,” he said.
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