When he entered the courtroom of the Sandigabayan or antigraft court, he still felt like a movie star under the spotlight of the nation and the world.
But on hearing chilling declaration by the presiding judge on Wednesday that he is guilty of plunder while being acquitted of perjury, Joseph Estrada, the 70-year-old former Philippine president, appeared disappointed.
"This is a political decision," he said at the end of the verdict session. "They created this Special Division (of Sandiganbayan) to convict me."
After six years of mental torture and endless humiliation, Estrada now faces life imprisonment in a harsh prison cell in a Manila suburb, where sanitary condition could be unbearable for him and food was bad.
Moreover, he thus became the first Philippine president in history to be convicted of a crime.
The Sandiganbayan anti-graft court also ordered the fining of 542 million pesos (11.7 million U.S. dollars) from a foundation set up by the former president, as well as 189 million pesos (4.1 million U.S. dollars) from a real property project owned by him. The court also authorized the seizure by government of a mansion owned by him.
Presiding Justice Teresita Leonardo de Castro said Estrada could continue staying at his private rest house in Tanay, Rizal province east to Manila, where he had been living under house arrest since 2004, until "further notice" which could mean the ending of material comfort for him too.
She said Estrada was convicted beyond reasonable doubt of plunder. The government prosecutors accused him of plundering some 4 billion pesos (86 million U.S. dollars) through bribes and kick- backs during his presidency from 1998 to early 2001.
The verdict was welcomed by the stock market, Roman Catholic Church and business community, which held a grand conference in the financial city of Makati to laud the economic achievements under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
The Malacanang presidential palace also expressed happiness over the verdict, hoping it would turn over a page.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the government "bows to the decision of the Sandiganbayan and hopes and prays that the rule of law will prevail".
"Meantime, we have a country to run, an economy to grow, and a peace to win. We hope that this sad episode in our history will not permanently distract us from these goals," he said.
Although the authorities deployed thousands of riot police and soldiers around the Sandiganbayan court in Quezon City, the turnout number of supporters of the former president was relatively small and no serious confrontation took place between them and police.
Estrada, meanwhile, asked his supporters to remain calm and said the people have already acquitted him.
The guilty verdict was widely anticipated by the local media and public opinion, which still sounded sympathetic with the former president but considered his fate as doomed.
Source: Xinhua
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