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People Power Revisited

Philippine president Joseph Estrada faces an impeachment trial after being accused of taking huge kickbacks from illegal gambling operators and tobacco taxes.

By Cookie Hiponia

Wielding picket signs and marching to the beat of a brass agong, almost 200 protesters called for the resignation of Philippine President Joseph “Erap” Estrada during a rally in downtown San Francisco on Nov. 14.

“It was so empowering to be there,” said Stephanie Loleng of Pusod, a Filipino American arts and ecology resource center. Loleng decided to attend the rally after learning of the human rights and environmental violations that Estrada is accused of committing. “I still have a lot of family in the Philippines and I want their leaders to be just and honest. So it’s time for Erap to step down.”

Estrada has been accused of ignoring the Muslim separatists’ conflict in Mindanao and living a wealthy lifestyle while the rest of the country languishes in poverty. On Oct. 5, Philippine Senate Majority Leader Teofisto Guingona further accused him of accepting millions in Philippine pesos from operators of a popular but illegal numbers game known as jueteng. Within a month, a formal impeachment trial had begun in the Philippine House of Representatives and Estrada vowed to prove his innocence. For these and other “crimes against the people,” Filipinos and Filipino Americans are calling for Estrada to resign or be ousted.

The throng of anti-Erap protesters marched from Union Square to the Philippine Consulate to show their support for the thousands of Filipinos marching and rallying all over Metro Manila during this National Day of Protest. Gloved fists were raised in the cold night air amid chants of “Down with the Dictator! ‘Cause he’s a human rights violator! He’s a lowdown womanizer! And he’s a really really bad actor!” (Estrada is a former action film star.)

The agong beats increased in volume and intensity as the protesters directed their voices up toward the windows of the Philippine Consul’s offices. Chants in Tagalog proclaimed that Estrada is an imperialista, no better than former President Ferdinand Marcos, whose regime was overthrown during the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Three years after beloved opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino was assassinated by mercenaries working for Marcos, the now-legendary march on Epifanio de los Santos Avenue led by Manila’s archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin stopped traffic and made the world sit up and pay attention. Marcos was forced to resign and flee the country after increasingly violent protesters surrounded Malacañang Palace, the presidential residence. Soon after, Aquino’s widow, Corazon, was elected president by a landslide, the first woman president of the Philippines. The Filipino people embraced “Cory” Aquino, the housewife they hoped would lead the nation to peace and prosperity.

The scene at the consulate was reminiscent of intense protesting in Manila during the People Power Revolution. Yet the driving force behind the People Power Revolution — hope — seemed to be replaced by desperation. As one protester who asked not to be identified admitted, “We want [Estrada] out, but we don’t know who we want in his place. It seems like all the politicians are corrupt.”

He added that even Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the popular vice president thought by many to be Estrada’s more worthy successor, is sometimes looked upon as an opportunista who resigned her cabinet position and led dozens of anti-Estrada rallies in the past month to strategically insinuate herself into the hearts of the Filipino voting public.

This sentiment was echoed by Rhonda Ramiro of the Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines during a Nov. 30 KPFA radio interview. “Arroyo is definitely more politically savvy and economically astute than Erap, but I can’t say that Filipinos trust her.”

However, Arroyo’s father was reformist President Diosdado Macapagal, venerated as the “Champion of the Common Man” for working to suppress government corruption and stimulate the Philippine economy. Therefore, Filipinos are willing to give Arroyo “the benefit of the doubt,” Ramiro said. Although they are “not necessarily backing [her], they know that they must unite against Erap.”

Both anti- and pro-Estrada rallies continue to be weekly fare in the Philippines as Filipinos pray that both Estrada and the opposition respect the due process of law. Even religious leaders are now taking sides in the imbroglio. Cardinal Sin has once again thrown his hat in the ring, exercising his influence on the predominantly Catholic Filipinos. Sin urged Estrada to resign, for he “has lost the moral ascendancy to govern,” while Mike Velarede of El Shaddai, a charismatic religious group, and Kong Manalo of Iglesia ni Kristo, the Church of Christ, support Estrada and believe he will be proven innocent.

As a signal to close the rally at the Philippine Consulate on the National Day of Protest, the crowd raised one voice heavenward during an emotionally rousing rendition of the patriotic hymn, Bayan Ko (“My Country”) — an attempt, perhaps, to appeal to a higher power.