Court denies All Saints’ Day furlough for Estrada

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Court denies All Saints’ Day furlough for Estrada
The Sandiganbayan says allowing Jinggoy Estrada's to leave his detention place 'will entail additional and considerable government expenses to safeguard his security' and set a bad precedent

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court Sandiganbayan denied on Thursday, October 30, the request of detained Senator Jinggoy Estrada for a 5-hour furlough on All Saints’ Day to visit the graves of his relatives and a dear friend.

“We rule that to allow the accused-movant to leave his detention cell will not only set a bad precedent, but will likewise be regarded as a mockery of the administration of justice,” the court resolved.

In his two-page motion to be allowed a pass of 5 hours on November 1, Estrada had cited the Christian tradition of paying homage to the departed during All Saints’ Day.

He said he wanted to maintain his yearly stop at the grave of his friend actor Rudy Fernandez at the Heritage Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio.

He also wanted to visit the graves of his relatives, including his sister Jessica, grandmother Mary, grandfather Emilio, uncles George and Paulino, and father-in-law Reynaldo Vitug all at the San Juan Cemetery.

But the court said giving a go signal for Estrada to leave his place of detention cell “will entail additional and considerable government expenses to safeguard his security and safety.”

“The motion is not well-taken. Being a detention prisoner, just like all other detention prisoners, accused-movant cannot be allowed the full enjoyment of his rights, be it civil or political,” the court’s resolution read.

Estrada is facing a plunder case and 11 counts of graft before the Sandiganbayan Fifth Division over the multi-million-peso diversion of his Priority Development Assistance Fund or pork barrel to ghost projects of dummy foundations.

He is currently detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame. Prosecutors have regarded his detention at the police camp as special treatment, saying the center does not qualify as a jail. – Rappler.com

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