Estrada, 69, briefly took the witness stand in his defense for the eighth time in three months before the court adjourned for another week to prepare for his cross-examination.

Estrada has dismissed as politically motivated charges he amassed about P4 billion ($ 77 million; euro63 million) from illegal gambling payoffs, tax kickbacks and commissions, as well as a perjury charge for allegedly underreporting his assets in 1999.

He has been on trial since 2001, the year a popular uprising forced him out of office and swept in his then-vice president, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The defense wrapped up its presentation with a video of Arroyo making a speech in February 2001, a month after Estrada was toppled.

In that speech, she made impromptu remarks about her predecessor's ouster, saying she was introduced in January 2000 to ``a group who already then was working for eventual withdrawal of support'' from Estrada.

``I was talking to five different (military) groups and they didn't know about one another,'' Arroyo said in the video played in the courtroom.

She said the group included one police general who later became the national police chief, and that their role contributed to the success of what became known as ``People Power II'' -- the bloodless military-backed revolt that removed Estrada.

Estrada later told reporters that the video only added to ``the evidence of conspiracy.''

The court allowed the video to be shown over objections by State Prosecutor Dennis Villa-Ignacio, who said it was ``irrelevant and immaterial'' to the capital case of plunder against Estrada.

Villa-Ignacio said the Supreme Court twice ruled that Arroyo legally assumed the presidency and that Estrada had lost presidential immunity from prosecution.

Estrada and his lawyers were also surprised by the presence of businessman Mark Jimenez, an estranged friend of the ousted leader.

Villa-Ignacio told the court he may present Jimenez to rebut Estrada's testimony.

Jimenez claimed in 2001 that he personally handed Estrada checks totaling P346 million ($ 6.7 million, euro5.22 million) from December 1998 to August 2000, and that some of the money allegedly went into Estrada's secret bank account.

Jimenez, a former congressman, told reporters he didn't want to testify against the former president ``because he is already guilty.''

Jimenez returned to Manila in December after serving two years and three months in jail in the United States for tax evasion and illegal campaign contributions to former U.S. President Bill Clinton.