Estrada denies U.S. pressure to step down
Estrada denies U.S. pressure to step down
MANILA (Reuters): Embattled Philippine President Joseph
Estrada, facing threats of impeachment over a gambling payoffs
scandal, denied on Sunday that there had been pressure from the
United States for him to resign.
"The United States does not interfere in our affairs. All they
want to happen is for our constitution to be followed," Estrada,
who had talks recently with senior U.S. embassy officials, said
in a radio interview.
Estrada faces the prospects of more defections from his ruling
coalition as the House of Representatives or Lower House begins
formal discussions on Monday on an opposition motion calling for
his impeachment.
Estrada, who has rejected calls to step down, said he would
resign only if it was proved in an impeachment trial that he
received payoffs from illegal gambling syndicates.
"If it is proved during impeachment that I am guilty, that is
the only thing, according to the constitution, that can make me
step down," he said.
"But I did not take any money from (illegal gambling) and I
never stole a centavo from the treasury."
A former presidential ally has accused Estrada of receiving
414 million pesos (US$8.1 million) from syndicates running
underground lotteries.
The president slammed opposition proposals to boycott
businesses owned by his friends, saying such a plan would only
damage the economy.
Senator Ramon Revilla, a long-time presidential ally and a
former movie star like Estrada, is expected to announce his break
from the coalition on Monday, joining five senators who have
already severed their links with the president.
Also on Monday, leaders of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino
(LDP), one of three parties in the ruling coalition, meet to
discuss a proposal to quit.
The LDP is headed by Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara,
Estrada's vice-presidential running mate in the 1998 election.
Estrada lost his majority in the 218-member Lower House last
week when more than 40 coalition congressmen broke away to
support the impeachment case filed by opposition lawmakers.
Monday's meeting of the Lower House committee on justice will
discuss whether the impeachment case, already supported by a
majority in the House, can be passed outright to the Senate for
trial without a debate by the full House.
The Senate could begin the trial of Estrada as early as later
this month.
A two-thirds vote by the 22-member Senate -- or at least 15
senators -- is required to convict and remove Estrada from
office.
Vice-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the constitutional
successor if Estrada leaves office, quit her cabinet post as
social welfare secretary after the pay-offs scandal broke.