Philippine Ex-President Appears in Court on Perjury ChargesFormer Philippine President Joseph Estrada Wednesday afternoon appeared in the anti-graft court in Manila for his arraignment on perjury charges.This was the first time Estrada appeared in court since he was arrested and incarcerated on a plunder complaint on April 25. 5,000 police officers were deployed, including more than 2,000 around the anti-graft court building, to ensure the safety of the ousted leader amid reports of assassination lots against him. The perjury charges pertain to Estrada's misdeclaration of his 1999 statement of assets and liabilities, which showed his net worth at only 35 million pesos (673,000 U.S. dollars), including 6 million pesos (115,400 dollars) cash on hand and in the bank. The statement was contrary to the prosecution's allegations in the abortive impeachment trial that Estrada owned a number of multimillion-peso mansions and at least 3.23 billion pesos (62 million dollars) in his bank account with under the alias Jose Velarde. Estrada was toppled by a military-backed popular uprising on January 20 for corruption scandals. |
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