From silver screen to presidency?

Whatever people say about him, Joseph Estrada declares that he is ready, willing and able to take on the toughest job in the Philippines. The leading opposition party in the Philippines evidently agrees. It has picked Estrada as its presidential candidate.

Estrada, who has served as vice president since 1992, certainly has name recognition in the Philippines. His show business career has included action movie roles as well as hosting a popular television anticrime show. He is certainly endowed with charm and glamour. But does he possess the appropriate qualities to lead his country through these difficult times?

About 6,200 workers across the Philippines have lost their jobs over the past two weeks due to belt-tightening measures by companies hit by the decline in the value of the peso. Last week, in a leaked letter to President Fidel Ramos, Economic Planning Secretary Cielito Habito told the government to stop pretending everything was fine with the economy.

At this time, the country is in need of a president capable of making sound, sensible and balanced judgments about the economy. But Estrada is not known to have these abilities. He has on many occasions behaved in a rash and impulsive manner. Philippine businessmen fear his limited grasp of economics could end up throwing the economy off track once more. Yet the former actor at 61 continues to top opinion polls in the race to succeed Ramos when his six-year term ends in June. Such a situation makes many Asians wonder as to whether democracy really works.

-- The Hong Kong Standard