Military: Estrada tried to flee RP

Ousted President Joseph Estrada reportedly planned to flee the country using the southern backdoor, but the plan was called off after authorities sealed off all exit points nationwide.

Meanwhile, the disgraced leader vehemently denied anew that he intended to sneak out of the country to evade prosecution on a string of criminal cases leveled against him by the Office of the Ombudsman.

"Those are rumors. I have said time and again: I was born here, I live here and I will die here," Estrada said while campaigning in Cagayan de Oro for senatorial candidates of the opposition coalition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino-Puwersa ng Masa.

"I don’t have the intention whatsoever of leaving the country," he stressed.

A military official who requested anonymity said they received information that a private jet had been put on standby to spirit away Estrada and some members of his family immediately after the promulgation of the SC decision declaring the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration last Friday night.

The escape plan was reportedly canceled after the Armed Forces alerted its Southern Command to detect or interdict the aircraft upon orders of acting Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

The military official said the plan was for Estrada to board a private jet either in Mindanao or Palawan, and head for Hong Kong, Indonesia or Palau.

The source could not say if Estrada’s wife, Dr. Luisa Ejercito, who was also campaigning in Cagayan de Oro for her own senatorial bid, was included in the escape plan.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez said that all international airports and seaports in the country have been placed on alert against any possible attempts by the disgraced president to escape following the Supreme Court (SC) decision junking his petition questioning the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.

"The military and the police were placed on double red alert for the possible exit of Estrada. Intelligence agents and a handful of troops are now deployed in the possible exit points," the source said.

The SC, voting 13-0, upheld on Friday the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration that was installed on Jan. 20 by a military-backed popular uprising that toppled the Estrada presidency.

Perez said the government has warned private plane companies against allowing Estrada to escape using their aircraft.

"We are watching the companies that are offering him chartered plane services. We told them that it if the former president uses their planes to escape, we will impound their planes upon return," Perez said.

Estrada had been insisting that he never resigned, and merely went on leave to avoid bloodshed as tens of thousands of protesters were about to storm Malacañang.

Former Executive Secretary Edgardo Angara gave assurances, however, that Estrada would be back in Manila yesterday after a side trip to Western Palawan from Cagayan de Oro.

But reports said Estrada canceled the projected visit to Palawan for still unknown reasons.

"If I were the lawyer of former President Estrada, I would warn him that he better flee because I know that the evidence against him is really strong," Perez said.

Perez has said Estrada was using a chartered jet to visit Mindanao, from where he could easily fly to Malaysia or Brunei.

The Bureau of Immigration placed on double red alert its agents in the country’s four international airports and seaports in case Estrada tried to slip out of the country.

Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Superintendent Rodrigo de Gracia said PNP chief Deputy Director General Leandro Mendoza has also mobilized the PNP Aviation Security Group (ASG) and the Marine Group (MG) to be on the lookout for Estrada who may try to flee the country.

The fallen leader, along with the former first lady and over 20 close friends and cronies, were barred from leaving the country as a result of the charges leveled against them.

Immigration Commissioner Andrea Domingo issued the alert order which covered all ocean-going vessels that may also be used by Estrada in surreptitiously leaving the country.

She cited the reported omission of Estrada’s name from the flight manifest of a chartered plane of the Subic International Air Charter Inc. used by the former president in flying to Mindanao to join the campaign.

"I am alarmed by this infraction of the regulation of the Air Transportation Office which was deliberately done presumably to test a future escape plan for Estrada," Domingo said.

When the chartered Lear jet was about to take off, the pilot made last-minute changes on the flight plan and submitted another manifest, this time including Estrada’s name as among the passengers.

De Gracia said the ASG and the MG were specifically directed to keep a close watch on the airports and seaports in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Rumors had it that two private planes were on standby, ready to pick up Estrada in Mindanao and fly him out of the Philippines.

However, the former president has repeatedly gave assurances he has no such plans.