Estrada's gambling scam: A RP battle of principles<\/p>\n
By Chua Huck Cheng<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE: There is a strange, twilight-zone quality to the
\ngoings-on in the Philippines these past few days.<\/p>\n
True to the macho image he has of himself, President Joseph
\nEstrada is fending off the US$11-million pay-off allegations made
\nagainst him by a provincial governor, Luis Singson.<\/p>\n
But each time Estrada throws a punch -- for instance,
\ninsinuating that friends and associates of former Presidents
\nCorazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos have had improper dealings with
\ngovernment banks -- he diminishes bit by bit the office of the
\nPresident.<\/p>\n
That runs counter to the survival handbook that says big guys
\ndon't fight dirt with dirt. They wear down those who mean harm
\nwith lordly contempt, after having made the standard denials.<\/p>\n
Sadly, in this case, even Estrada's most abiding supporters do
\nnot think he has the stature to pull that off. He fights the only
\nway he knows how, which is at gut level.<\/p>\n
The bottom line is that the media, the Church, influential
\nretired politicians, business leaders and the chattering classes
\nare all baying for his blood. They think Estrada, who is never
\none of them, is bad for the country.<\/p>\n
What a ball the elite must be having in Manila.<\/p>\n
The matrons of Forbes Park with their morning coffee, hauling
\ntheir unseemly President over the coals.<\/p>\n
The Makati business set, sensing the tide is about to turn,
\npouring on the vitriol.<\/p>\n
Opposition politicians smacking their lips in vengeful delight
\nfor the rout they received in the congressional elections.<\/p>\n
The greatest moral force for Estrada's departure from office
\n-- by falling on his sword -- has been supplied by two people,
\nAquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Archbishop of Manila.<\/p>\n
Aquino is the virtual patron saint of the Philippines'
\nmovement for the acclamation of the righteous. She has enormous
\nprestige as the person who, with little practice and lots of
\ncourage, did what she could to cleanse the system of Marcos
\ntoxins.<\/p>\n
She chose the Edsa Shrine, commemorating the Edsa revolution
\nof 1986 which drove President Ferdinand Marcos from office, to
\nask that Estrada make the "supreme self-sacrifice" of resigning
\nhis office.<\/p>\n
It was the "sordid company" he kept which had brought the
\ncountry to such a pass, she said.<\/p>\n
This was strong language, but Cardinal Sin's admonition of the
\nPhilippine nation topped that.<\/p>\n
"May we all strike our breasts and bow our heads in shame
\nbecause we have brought all this upon ourselves. We have no one
\nto blame but ourselves for being complacent, easy-going and
\nuncaring."<\/p>\n
Filipinos would not like what that says of their personality,
\nbut would they have the moral conviction to take on their
\nprinciple churchman?<\/p>\n
The prelate is the conscience of the Philippines, as he was
\nwhen leading the crusade to rid the country of the Marcos
\nscourge.<\/p>\n
In asking Estrada to do the "heroic" thing, regardless of
\nguilt or innocence, Cardinal Sin was articulating an
\nincontrovertible truism about his country: The people deserve the
\nleaders they get.<\/p>\n
The reality check for Estrada is this: The miasma of dishonor
\nis so strong that, to thinking Filipinos, it hardly matters
\nanymore whether he did or did not take the gaming bribes of $8.6
\nmillion and the $2.8-million cut of the tobacco tax.<\/p>\n
This is the people's real trauma.<\/p>\n
But out in the provinces and the slum quarters of the
\nmetropolitan areas of Luzon, the man they call Erap has
\nsubstantial support. He is one of them.<\/p>\n
It was on their backs that Estrada won the presidency in 1998
\nwith a showing that surprised the pundits. In another assault
\nEstrada-style, he had spoken of offering them titles to
\ngovernment land the state did not have a use for.<\/p>\n
He must pray that the value of the peso does not fall much
\nfurther. It has dipped 20 percent against the U.S. dollar since
\nthe beginning of the year.<\/p>\n
Interest rates are rising and the Asian Development Bank, with
\nits Manila headquarters, warned that the fundamentals supporting
\nthe economy would be lost if the morality crisis did not have a
\nclear conclusion.<\/p>\n
If that happens, rising prices of food, petrol and transport,
\nwhich would hurt the masses most, could alter the political
\nscenario.<\/p>\n
Estrada will not be troubled by the congressional move to
\nimpeach him, as the government majority in both chambers can see
\noff the threat.<\/p>\n
Neither has he said anything about suing Governor Singson.
\nThat has obvious courtroom risks, but his handlers will probably
\nplead gravitas and say it is beneath the President to take just
\nany scallywag to court.<\/p>\n
Why, Singson himself has allegedly been implicated!<\/p>\n
Estrada means to ride out the storm, from all indications. But
\nif the people take a hand, as happened in 1986, he might rue the
\nday he ever became a movie actor.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Straits Times leader writer (huck@sph.com.sg).<\/p>\n
-- The Straits Times\/Asia News Network<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/estradas-gambling-scam-a-rp-battle-of-principles-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }