Media flock to Tanay, Rizal in frantic wait for Estrada

Media flocked to Tanay, Rizal early Wednesday morning to wait for former President Joseph Estrada to come out of his vacation estate. Authorities will fetch Estrada from Tanay and bring him to Quezon City to face the Sandiganbayan. The antigraft court will rule on Estrada's P4.1-billion plunder case at 9 a.m. At the Sandiganbayan, radio dzBB said hundreds of journalists lined up to register for the coverage of the historic event. Cops and canine units were deployed at the court's premises, while the Philippine National Police's heavily armed special action force was positioned to secure areas outside the Sandiganbayan. Police and journalists set up camp around the Sandiganbayan complex in Quezon City Tuesday evening. Police units inspected the premises of the court while foreign and local media organizations set up broadcast equipment outside the Sandiganbayan building. A team from the police Special Weapons and Tactics and the Explosives and Ordnance Division also inspected the rooms and even the ceiling of the Sandiganbayan. The Supreme Court earlier allowed the live broadcast of the verdict on the P4.1-billion plunder case against former President Joseph Estrada, giving media organizations access to a lone camera that will capture video footage of the proceedings. In a press briefing, court spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the high tribunal's public information office will set up a camera inside the Sandiganbayan Special Division's sala. He said only SC PIO personnel will operate the camera, but television networks will be allowed to hook up and broadcast the video footage. - GMANews.TV