MANILA A special Philippine anti-graft court on Friday vowed to act as swiftly as possible on eight criminal cases filed against ousted president Joseph Estrada, but stressed that the rights of the accused would be ensured.

The Sandiganbayan raffled off the cases against Estrada, which were filed by Ombudsman Aniano Desierto on Wednesday, to determine which cases would be handled by each of its five divisions.

"While we have to be transparent and speedy, there must never be any railroading of the cases," said Justice Anacleto Badoy, who heads the division that will try the economic plunder case against the former leader.

"I can only assure the public that we will do our very best to act as fast as we can without sacrificing accuracy and rendering the correct decision," he added.

Plunder, or the theft of public offensive in excess of 50 million pesos (1 million dollars), is the gravest charge against Estrada. It is a non-bailable offense, which carries the maximum penalty of death.

Badoy declined to commit to a time frame on when the division would complete the evaluation of the plunder case against Estrada, citing the voluminous documents submitted by the ombudsman to support the charge.

"We are mandated to study the documents before we decide whether there is probable cause or not," he told reporters after the raffle.

The justices must find enough evidence against Estrada on the plunder case before they can issue a warrant of arrest against the former president.

Amid mounting clamor for Estrada's arrest, the 63-year-old former movie action star, who was ousted by a military-backed mass uprising on January 20, has challenged the government to arrest and detain him during the trial.

"Go ahead, arrest me," he told reporters while on a trip to the central city of Roxas, where he campaigned for candidates of his political party in a congressional election in May.

Justice Secretary Hernando Perez has announced plans to ask the Supreme Court to allow full media coverage of the trial.

Aside from plunder, Estrada is also accused of accepting bribes from illegal gambling bosses, misdeclaring his assets, using a fake name to set up a bank account and shielding a friend from government regulators in an insider-trading case.

(DPA)