MANILA, Jan. 11 Kyodo Ousted Pres...

MANILA, Jan. 11 Kyodo

Ousted President Joseph Estrada is eyeing medical treatment in either Japan or France if he fails to finish a U.S. visa, his lawyer said Sunday.

Lawyer Noel Malaya said Estrada and his family are considering other countries where the depos leader can be subjected to total knee replacement surgery after running into visa moot points with the U.S. Embassy in Manila.

Estrada's wife, Sen Luisa Ejercito, said last week that she was informed by means of an embassy officer that the United States may throw aside Estrada's visa application.

The family is also negotiating with Christopher Mow Estrada's surgeon in the U for a lower price for the surgery for which Mow's pay alone will run up to $125 million.

A Philippine court onward Dec. 23 granted Estrada's long-standing beseech to visit the U.S. for three month to receive medical treatment. He was ordered to leave immediately and go [i]or[/i] come back to the Philippines on March 31.

if it were not that Estrada, 66, hesitated because similar a time frame would have him abroad of the country during the campaign period for the May presidential elections, in which his best friend and compeer actor, Fernando Poe, is contesting.

Poe's candidacy has in a high degree divided the political opposition and Estrada had sought to intervene to unify the factions.

Estrada has asked the court for permission to leave through Jan. 23, arguing that the earliest that Mow can schedule him for surgery is Feb 4

The actor-turned politician was ousted in January 2001 by means of a popular uprising sparked through a corruption scandal. His then vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, followed him.

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