Stunned at seeing the swift deteriorating condition of his mother, with a respirator attached to her lungs and another tube for intravenous feeding, Estrada stood in silence after entering the hospital room where the members of his family, led by his wife, former Senator Luisa "Loi" Estrada and their son, Senate President Protempore Jinggoy Estrada, were waiting.

Doña Mary has been in the hospital for several weeks after her health condition took a turn for the worse with the onset of pneumonia. Since then, she has been calling for her son "Joseph."

Yesterday was the first in a long time that Estrada saw his mother.

A crush of cameras greeted Estrada on his arrival at the hospital grounds yesterday from his detention quarters in Tanay, Rizal.

Shielded from the media by squads of police security elements, it took Estrada a long time to reach the hospital room of his mother. Under the furlough granted to Estrada, no member of media was allowed to interview the popular opposition figure.

Television cameramen, news reporters, and photographers await Estrada’s arrival hours before his scheduled arrival, but no interview was allowed.

Estrada is now on his sixth year of detention on allegations of plunder but his public trust rating continues to soar.

He was given a 10-hour furlough by the Sandiganbayan Thursday to visit his gravely ill mother yesterday.

Estrada, lamenting the shortness of the time allowed him to visit his mother, initially thought of not accepting the 10-hour furlough.

"To be allowed to see my mother in her most critical time for only a few hours would just add more pain in the wings of adversity," Estrada was quoted by his wife, former Senaor Loi, as saying.

"If this is the kind of kindness the government is capable of, especially at a time of crisis in our family, it looks like the government is dispensing kindness in a thimble, not a bottle."

However, before dawn of Friday, according to Mrs. Estrada, her husband decided nothing could stop him from seeing his sick mother.

Mrs. Estrada added they were praying that her husband be at least allowed by the government to stay in one room of the hospital, or allowed to go home to rest at their North Greenhills home, so he could be with his mother a longer time.

"It will not take anything away from the government to show human kindness," she said.

Erap himself found suffering from flu during hospital visit

By ANNA LIZA T. VILLAS

Despite his suffering from influenza, former President Joseph Estrada visited his ailing 102-year-old mother, Doña Mary Ejercito, who is confined in a hospital in San Juan City yesterday morning.

Dr. Lorenzo Hocson, personal physician of Estrada, recommended that the former President undergo a blood examination.

"He is suffering from flu and as he is in the hospital, we could monitor his condition," said Dr. Hocson.

Clad in a brown jacket, Estrada’s convoy arrived from his resthouse and detention quarters in Tanay, Rizal, at the San Juan Medical Center at around 10:55 a.m., escorted by officers and members of the Police Security and Protection Office, Eastern Police District, and San Juan City police.

His departure for San Juan under the 10- hour furlough granted by the Sandiganbayan was delayed by over three hours as the former president said he felt weak and failed to rise from bed because of the influenza he was suffering from.

Estrada was welcomed by supporters and media when he arrived at the hospital, located at the city hall, but he did not issue any statement and went straight to Doña Mary’s room.

Dr. Hocson said Doña Mary was still in an "unstable" condition, l breathing with the help of a respirator.

Doña Mary has been confined at the hospital since last Aug. 10 after she was diagnosed to have abdominal aortic aneurysm, pneumonia, and urinary tract infection.

"Dati na nyang sakit yan… but I cannot give any more information on her latest condition," said Dr. Hocson.

Supt. Rodelio Jocson, San Juan City Police Station chief, said he deployed enough security men to secure the former President while he is inside the hospital at the city hall compound.

The Sandiganbayan granted Estrada a 10-hour furlough, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., to visit his mother at the hospital, excluding any other place. He was barred from granting media interviews without prior Sandiganbayan approval.