Estrada granted hospital detention

Arroyo visited Estrada in hospital amid a tight election count last month

By CNN's Rufi Vigilar

MANILA, Philippines (CNN) -- The Philippine anti-graft court has allowed deposed president Joseph Estrada to stay in hospital while under arrest on a plunder charge.

The court had previously denied Estrada's petition for house arrest and ordered that he be sent back to detention in a police camp south of the capital Manila.

Estrada was arrested on a plunder charge in late April, accused of amassing more than $200 million illegally during his 31 months in office. He also faces two other corruption charges.

"Although the former president … is deemed physically fit to travel and the Sandiganbayan may order his transfer to another facility any time, it can be said from medical viewpoint that the terrain characteristics and the layout of the VMMC complex may provide physical and psychological environment conducive to the enhancement of his clinical improvement," the court's resolution said.

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The ruling allows Estrada to remain at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) for the duration of his trial, which starts next week, unless the court later orders him transferred.

The court based its decision on a medical report it had ordered the hospital to submit.

Dignified detention

The medical report said Estrada was suffering from a "chronic case of obstructive pulmonary disease" due to his smoking, which causes him to breathe with difficulty.

The court decision is seen as a compromise between detention in a police camp, on which Estrada's opponents have insisted, and the house arrest which his lawyers and supporters say give him the dignity he deserves as a former head of state.

Estrada was brought to the VMMC complaining of chest pains since two days before the May 14 elections.

The elections were seen as a proxy war between Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the vice president who succeeded him as head of state.

President Arroyo visited Estrada at the hospital amid a tight election count and said she did not mind his detention there.

Hospital annex

The government started to build a hospital annex for Estrada last month, but protests by Catholic Church leaders and militant groups stopped the construction.

Analysts had seen Arroyo's visit as an attempt to calm any disorder that may be provoked by the ousted leader.

Estrada loyalists had made a failed but violent Labor Day march on the presidential palace that threatened to unseat Arroyo.

Estrada's wife, Loi Ejercito, and his former executive secretary have won Senate seats. Two other Estrada allies suspected of a coup attempt on Arroyo will also be among the upper house's new members.

Estrada's son, Jinggoy, was earlier allowed to leave the hospital for a few days to clear his former desk as mayor at the municipal hall in San Juan - the Estrada family's bailiwick. His half-brother has succeeded him.