25 - 31 January 2001
Issue No.518
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 25 - 31 January 2001 Issue No.518 |
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A friend in need
Joseph Estrada was the underdog who everyone liked rooting for -- the rough-around-the-edges, smooth-talking hero; the bad-boy with a good heart; the rags-to-riches tough-guy who thumbed his nose at the country's elite. It was a part he played to a loyal cult following in his B-movie acting days in the 1970s, and he carried the role over into the presidential palace when he was elected in a landslide victory to the Philippine presidency in June 1998. It was a lovable persona for the masses. However, Estrada overestimated the tolerance of the Philippine people.
Unabashedly philandering, hard-drinking and sheepishly thick-witted, Estrada managed to harness popular support by posing as a champion of the poor -- just an everyday man using common sense to solve the nation's problems. For this, Filipinos were willing to overlook the little indiscretions: the mistresses, the close friends in high places, the rakish bravado and ribald humour. What they were not willing to tolerate was plain old stealing.
The scandal that eventually unravelled Estrada's presidency broke last October, when the public caught whiff of corruption allegations being lodged against him by former ally and provincial governor Luis Singson. Singson claimed that Estrada had amassed a fortune in excess of 3.3 billion pesos ($60 million) since becoming president, mainly from kickbacks in an illegal gambling racket known as jueteng and by pocketing tobacco taxes. Estrada vehemently denied the charges.
However, prominent figure Cardinal Jaime Sin -- a veteran of the 1986 People's Power Movement that toppled the 21-year-long dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos, and the people's litmus test for social and political change -- was unconvinced and called for Estrada to resign. Within weeks an impeachment motion had been filed and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had joined the calls for Estrada to step down. On 13 November, the House of Representatives impeached Estrada so fast there was not even a vote. The country's first impeachment trial was moved to the Senate.
Set against the background of the US election quagmire, Estrada's impeachment trial was beamed across the country to the accompaniment of a cacophony of mobile phone text messages, instantly updating the salacious details of the case. "Texting", practically the national pastime, was used to pass on the newest jokes and -- unbeknownst to anyone at the time -- lay the groundwork for a loose but surprisingly efficient network of simmering protest that would later mobilise hundreds of thousands of Filipinos on the streets of Manila. Ultimately, they would eject Estrada. News of palatial mansions bought by the president for his favourite mistresses, and alleged all-night drunken gambling sessions euphemistically referred to as his "midnight cabinet", were lapped up by the public as though it were a gripping soap opera.
Estrada, known by his nickname Erap (the word pare, meaning "buddy", spelled backwards), clung to the loyalty of his inner circle as a means to acquittal. But claims that Erap was skimming off taxes and enriching himself with hush-money had fatally wounded Estrada's chummy image with the country's poor. Things came to a head last Tuesday when senators, acting as judges, voted 11-10 not to unseal bank documents the prosecution claimed would reveal the vast wealth Estrada had accumulated. This amounted to a virtual acquittal. Prosecutors walked out from the hearings and unanimously resigned.
Subsequently, tens of thousands of people came out onto the streets around the so-called EDSA shrine, a small chapel built on the spot where people had turned out in insurmountable numbers in 1986 to oust Marcos. The collective spirit of revolt carried thousands of text messages from one mobile phone to another: "Trial collapsed", "Be angry", "Come to EDSA". The crowds ballooned over the next few days, and included students abandoning their classes, businessmen drawn into the demonstration, and even nuns wearing signs calling for Estrada to step down. Vice President Macapagal-Arroyo was joined by former presidents Fidel Ramos and the popular Corazon Aquino (widow of slain former senator and opposition figure Benigno Aquino) and, finally, a few late but crucial defectors: Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Angelo Reyes and Defence Secretary Orlando Mercado. Within hours of Reyes and Mercado's resignations on Friday, Estrada's administration had dwindled to less than a quarter of his staff.
Friday night, the beleaguered Estrada appeared on television and called for a snap election alongside general elections scheduled for May, promising that he would not run. Arroyo rejected the offer as unconstitutional and Estrada then reportedly tried to cut a deal that would buy him a few days, a pardon and the chance to take some of his riches with him. But the street protests were reaching a climax and an ultimatum was issued for Estrada to step down by 6am Saturday morning. When the deadline passed, angry revellers marched on Malacañang Palace, breaking through police barriers and clashing briefly with the few Estrada supporters who were still around.
The situation was neutralised when the Supreme Court stepped in and declared the presidency vacant. Estrada finally conceded, and Arroyo was hastily sworn in as the country's 14th president before jubilant crowds at the EDSA shrine. Within hours, Estrada and his family were slipping out the back door of the palace, keeping a stiff upper lip and offering a final salute to the security personnel who had remained at the palace.
It was an ignominious end to a brief and initially popular presidency. The country now sits in the hands of the 53-year-old Arroyo, daughter of the late President Diosdado Macapagal, who has made no bones about prosecuting Estrada. By all accounts, Arroyo is the anti-Estrada: a demure and serious economist, she was a classmate of outgoing US President Bill Clinton at Georgetown. In a tidy twist of fate, Arroyo was sworn in within hours of new US President George W Bush, also the child of a former president.
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