Santiago issued the statement after Manila Mayor Lito Atienza appealed over the weekend for the government to consider Estrada’s plea for bail "as the first step to open the doors to national reconciliation." Atienza’s appeal followed the call made by Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) leader Eraño G. Manalo and El Shaddai founder Bro. Mike Velarde for both the Arroyo administration and the opposition "to end all political bickering for the sake of national interest."

Asked to comment on Atienza’s appeal, Santiago said she supports his position, saying "of course we know the mayor belongs to the executive branch, I belong to the legislative branch.…there is a concept known as the independence of the judiciary."

"Without meaning in any way... to impinge on the judicial independence of the Sandiganbayan ... if the Sandigan would grant the petition for bail or official cognizance by President Estrada… it will be a substantial contribution to political stability in our country," Santiago said.

Santiago had stood by Estrada during his darkest hours — the former President’s impeachment trial at the Senate which was aborted in January, 2001.

The EDSA People Power 2 uprising forced Estrada to leave Malacañang, giving then Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the opportunity to take power.

Santiago talked to reporters at the Senate which resumed regular session yesterday afternoon following a week-long recess. It will go again on a week-long recess starting Thursday.

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives will then resume regular session on Nov. 7. The Lower House remains in recess this week since both legislative chambers adjourned last Oct. 13.

Amid the debates on Charter change, rallies by various opposition groups and concerns on the expanded value added tax (EVAT) law, Sen. Richard Gordon said the country needs something that would bring hope.

Gordon advised the President to immediately address the issues raised by opposition groups to prove her sincerity in enacting reforms.

"The Filipinos need to know and see that the President is fighting for what is good for them. The President needs to show that she is doing something concrete for the people," Gordon said.

Lawyers want Erap in San Juan home for a month

By EDMER F. PANESA

Former President Joseph Estrada would need to stay in his home in San Juan for at least a month to prepare for his impending testimony before the Sandiganbayan Special Division which is trying him for plunder and perjury charges, his lawyers said yesterday.

"We will probably need a month subject to continuing review by the defense panel," Jose Flaminiano, one of Estrada’s lawyers, told the court during the hearing of the defense motion asking that Estrada be moved to his residence on Polk Street, North Greenhills, San Juan.

Flaminiano said if their motion would be granted, they might ask the court to extend Estrada’s stay in his San Juan residence during the time he will testify.

He noted that San Juan is nearer to the Sandiganbayan Building in Quezon City than Estrada’s resthouse in Tanay, Rizal, where the deposed leader is now confined.

Estrada’s lead counsel Rene Saguisag said members of the defense team find it difficult to confer with their client while he is in the mountainous town of Tanay, which is a twohour drive from Quezon City.

Saguisag said that since it would take them some time to brief Estrada before calling him on the witness stand, the former president should be transferred to a place nearer to his lawyers and the court.

"It will take us some time to brief our client. Reviewing the transcript alone would take us some time," Saguisag said.

In asking the court to order Estrada’s transfer to San Juan, the defense lawyers are citing as precedent the case of then President Jose P. Laurel, who was granted the same amenity by the People’s Court that tried him for 132 counts of "reason collaboration."

The defense said the People’s Court granted Laurel in 1946 the right to be confined in his house for 30 days to give him every facility to study the questions raised in the habeas corpus petition he earlier filed with the Supreme Court.

Special Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio said they would file an opposition to Estrada’s latest request. He suggested instead that the former president be returned to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, where he had been detained for more than two years prior to his transfer in Tanay.

"It has been the position of the prosecution that such (request) is tantamount to house arrest, which the court had denied twice," Villa-Ignacio said.

Saguisag said they would not be able to talk freely with Estrada if he is kept in a government facility like the VMMC since there is the possibility that they might be bugged.

"During the dark years (of martial law), we would talk with our political detainee clients in the military camps in some wash room with the faucets turned on, to drown any bugging that may be going on," Saguisag said.

Saguisag also clarified that their motion to modify Estrada’s custodial arrangement is without prejudice to the outcome of their motion for reconsideration on the denial of bail to Estrada.

The Special Division, chaired by Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro, gave the prosecution until Nov. 7 to file its opposition to the transfer request and gave the defense 10 days from receipt of the opposition to reply.

Thereafter, the motion is deemed submitted for resolution. Meanwhile, Saguisag said they are planning to ask the court to subpoena Manila Mayor Lito Atienza in support of their appeal on the Oct. 5 resolution denying Estrada’s motion for bail.

"If they (court) will consider the views of certain political leaders, it will give us some slack. There should be some policy considerations. This is an appeal to judicial statesmanship," Saguisag said in an interview after the hearing.

Atienza earlier said a reconsideration of Estrada’s plea for bail would be "the first giant step to open the doors to national reconciliation."