Manila - Riot police were put on alert yesterday in the Philippine capital to deal with any violence should deposed president Mr Joseph Estrada be arrested on a charge of economic plunder - a crime punishable by death.
Judges of the division in the anti-graft court which is handling the plunder charge said they were still poring over evidence to decide if Mr Estrada had any case to answer. Earlier yesterday, state prosecutors dropped five of eight criminal charges against the disgraced former movie actor, so they could focus on the main charge of plunder.