Vice-president resignation, peso's fall a blow to Estrada<\/p>\n
MANILA (Reuters): Philippine President Joseph Estrada, accused
\nof links to gambling lords, faced the biggest crisis of his two-
\nyear rule on Wednesday when his vice-president quit the cabinet
\nand the peso crashed to a new low.<\/p>\n
As presidential spokesmen dismissed rumors that more cabinet
\nresignations were in the wind, two members of Congress deserted
\nthe ruling coalition in a sign that unity within the beleaguered
\nEstrada administration was cracking.<\/p>\n
\"We have become the laughing stock of the world,\" Senator
\nRamon Magsaysay Jr said in announcing his decision to break away.<\/p>\n
Archbishop of Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin and a council of 75
\nRoman Catholic priests triggered the crisis on Wednesday when
\nthey urged Estrada to resign, saying \"he has lost the moral
\nascendancy to govern\".<\/p>\n
In a move that stunned the country's financial markets and
\nsent the peso on a drive through the 48-to-the-dollar level,
\nVice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday quit as Social
\nWelfare Secretary.<\/p>\n
Not even Estrada's denial of receiving payoffs from gambling
\nsyndicates in a televised address to the nation and his
\nappearance before a gathering of leading businessmen could calm
\nmarket nerves.<\/p>\n
\"He must go to restore confidence...only one thing can fix
\nthis and that is his stepping down,\" a currency trader with a
\nlocal bank said.<\/p>\n
But Estrada defiantly rejected calls to resign, saying the
\ncampaign against him was part of a \"politically motivated hatchet
\njob\" by the opposition ahead of next year's congressional
\nelections.<\/p>\n
\"I have not received a single cent from...any form of illegal
\ngambling. My conscience is clear. I am not hiding anything from
\nour people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The Foreign Office said Estrada had canceled his scheduled
\ntrip to South Korea to attend the Oct. 20-21 Asia-Europe Summit
\nmeeting so he could attend to domestic problems.<\/p>\n
\"The president is in a difficult position,\" said Senate leader
\nAquilino Pimentel, who is leading a congressional probe into the
\naccusations. \"You know the saying -- rats desert a sinking ship.\"<\/p>\n
Arroyo's announcement came a day before opposition legislators
\nwere to file a formal resolution seeking to impeach Estrada, a
\nformer movie actor whose 28-month presidency has been besieged by
\none scandal after another.<\/p>\n
The latest involves allegations raised last week by his former
\npolitical ally, Luis \"Chavit\" Singson, that he received 414
\nmillion pesos ($8.7 million) in payoffs from gambling lords
\nrunning an illegal numbers game called \"jueteng\".<\/p>\n
Arroyo is the first cabinet member to resign since the scandal
\nbroke.<\/p>\n
\"Much as I appreciate the chance that the president gave me to
\nserve the poor...I regret that I can no longer continue to serve
\nas a member of the present cabinet,\" said Arroyo in a statement
\nreleased by her office. She is now overseas.<\/p>\n
A leader of the opposition, she enjoys massive nationwide
\npopularity and her presence in the cabinet had helped Estrada
\nmaintain an image that his administration had the backing of some
\nof the opposition.<\/p>\n
Within an hour of Arroyo announcing her resignation,
\nMagsaysay, chairman of various Senate committees, announced he
\nwas quitting Estrada's party to become an independent.<\/p>\n
Influential congressman Roilo Golez also resigned from the
\ncoalition, saying \"the allegations (against Estrada) are very
\nserious and affect the moral foundations of the presidency\".<\/p>\n
Estrada was speaking before 1,000 Philippine businessmen at a
\nManila hotel when the resignations struck. He avoided reporters'
\nquestions after his speech.<\/p>\n
Almost all members of his cabinet joined him at the meeting to
\nshow they were united behind Estrada.<\/p>\n
\"There is none among us, at least at this point, even
\ncontemplating resignation,\" presidential spokesman Ricardo Puno
\nsaid. \"It's not our philosophy to abandon an ally when he is in
\ntrouble.\"<\/p>\n
Philippine central bank governor Rafael Buenaventura also
\nscotched rumors that he and members of Estrada's economic team
\nwere planning to abandon him.<\/p>\n
Arroyo, who keeps her job as vice-president, is next in line
\nfor president should Estrada resign or be forced to step down.<\/p>\n
Analysts have said that with the ruling coalition holding the
\nmajority in both chambers, it would be hard to get any
\nimpeachment action which requires Lower House approval.<\/p>",
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