Defence lawyers have opposed the anti-graft court's plan that deposed leader Joseph Estrada should be transferred to a jail in suburban Quezon City while he is undergoing trial.

City jails are congested and cannot offer adequate security to Estrada, defence lawyers said, adding that a former president should be accorded special treatment.

The defence lawyers filed their motion for reconsideration on Friday and held a press conference yesterday to amplify their call for humanitarian treatment for Estrada. Earlier, Sandiganbayan Justice Edilberto Sandoval cited the law that says any official undergoing trial for graft and corruption should be detained at the Quezon City jail.

Sandiganbayan has the right to assign a temporary detention centre under its jurisdiction to an official undergoing trial, said Sandoval.

Estrada and son Jinggoy are detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Centre in Quezon City. Both are on trial for the non-bailable charge of economic plunder.

Meanwhile, doctors said the government should recognise Estrada's right to choose his own doctor for his knee surgery in the U.S.

Orthopaedic surgeons in the Philippines are capable of doing the surgical procedure on Estrada, but he has the right to choose his own doctor, said Dr Jose S. Pujalte of the Philippine Orthopaedic Society, during a weekly media meet at suburban Quezon City's Sulu Hotel.

"The doctor-patient relationship is paramount," Pujalte said, adding: "The psychological effect in a patient who is being treated by a doctor whom he does not trust will be different from the one whom the patient trusts. A doctor, on the other hand, will not want to treat a patient who does not like him."

Earlier, Dr Christopher Mow of the Stanford University's Medical Centre in California said the technology to operate Estrada is not available in the country.

In a letter to the Sandiganbayan, Dr Mow said he is hesitant to come to the Philippines because of a travel advisory from the U.S. government in view of the security threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf in the south.

The decision to allow Estrada to go to the U.S. for knee surgery rests on the Sandiganbayan, said Congressman Didagen Dilangalen, adding the recent House resolution endorsing Estrada's travel was only an expression of the lawmakers' sentiment.