MANILA -- The Philippines' justice minister on Wednesday said he was opposed to the idea of deposed president Joseph Estrada being granted a Christmas furlough at his suburban mansion.

Government prosecutors have already registered their opposition to house arrest for Estrada with the special Sandigabayan graft court, Justice Secretary Hernando Perez told the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.

Estrada was toppled in a popular uprising last year amid charges he plundered a personal fortune of up to 80 million dollars during his 30 months in office. He is now detained at a military hospital while being tried for corruption, AFP reported.

The offense if nonbailable and is theoretically punishable by death. "We have objected to putting him under house arrest. That was our position and we said that there is only one law for the rich and the poor," Perez said. "So we said we are against the grant of house arrest."

He cited a case involving a former auditor at the government's internal revenue bureau who had languished at a city jail prior to being convicted. Perez said however that in the "ultimate analysis it is the Sandiganbayan that will make the decision."

Calls have been mounting for Estrada, who remains hugely popular among the masses, to allow the former president to spend Christmas with his family as a prelude to granting him house arrest.

A member of President Gloria Arroyo's cabinet, Housing Secretary Michael Defensor, this week said he had visited Estrada to help him air his appeal. Politicians as well as some sectors within the influential Roman Catholic church have also backed the idea.

But the presidential palace has distanced itself from Defensor's efforts, saying he was acting on a personal mission and that the decision to grant Estrada a Christmas furlough should come from the Sandiganbayan. Asked whether Defensor's move could be interpreted as a signal to Sandiganbayan justices to go easy on Estrada, Perez said: "I don't know if there is such kind of a signal to the members of the Sandiganbayan. But I still believe in the independence of the judiciary."

Perez noted that unofficial and random surveys on the radio have showed that "most people are against house arrest" for Estrada.

Estrada's lawyers this week filed a petition with the Sandiganbayan for house arrest, citing humanitarian grounds. A favorable decision on the petition could help "soothe and allay" political tension arising from Estrada's detention and could signal government was open to reconciliation, the lawyers said.

The court had earlier rejected a bid by Estrada to seek medical attention abroad for various ailments including gout and eye problems. SS