Pressure on Philippine President Joseph Estrada mounted Saturday as 60,000 people took to the streets to demand his resignation amid allegations he took bribes from illegal gambling lords.
Protestors, including leftist militants, opposition politicians and religious organizations massed at the same site where a public revolt in 1986 had forced the resignation of then-president Ferdinand Marcos.
The rally, organized largely by Catholic church bishops, came a day after Estrada allies, House of Representatives speaker Manuel Villar and Senate president Franklin Drilon, plus 47 other legislators, quit the president's ruling LAMP coalition.
Estrada's trade secretary, Manuel Roxas and five business leaders in a special economic advisory council as well as Estrada's political advisor, Angelito Banayo, also resigned this week dealing the president a bitter blow.
Saturday's protest was the biggest anti-Estrada rally since the clamor for his resignation began last month following accusations by an erstwhile friend that the president received millions of dollars in bribes from illegal gambling syndicates.
However Estrada brushed aside the protest action, saying "no amount of rallies can make me resign."
The protestors hoisted banners, among which read "Erap, please resign" and "Oust Erap", referring to Estrada by his popular nickname.
As well as calling for his resignation, opposition legislators have filed an impeachment motion against him in the House of Representatives.
The president has denied the accusations and said he is willing to submit to the impeachment process, confident that he will be proved innocent.
Earlier on Saturday, during his weekly radio broadcast, he told the public "to be wary of the efforts of our political opponents to cause trouble."
Vice-President Gloria Arroyo, who leads an opposition coalition against Estrada, joined the rallyists along with Villar and Drilon.
Influential church leader, Cardinal Jaime Sin, a long-time critic of Estrada, accused the president of engaging in womanizing, drinking, gambling and cronyism, even while in power.
Sin warned that if Estrada did not step down now, he would be forced to step down later, facing "great embarrassment, humiliation and ignominy."
"The presidency is not good for you because you are not capable of running this country," Sin told Estrada. "Resignation is good for your soul."
At a press conference after the rally, Arroyo called for more peaceful actions to push for Estrada's resignation.
"The Estrada administration is now politically dead. It can never again effectively govern," she added.
Asked about a "graceful exit" for Estrada she replied, "I won't say that talks are going on but there are feelers."
Former president Corazon Aquino said she was praying that Estrada would have the humility to make "the most momentous decision of his life" and resign.
She appealed to his sense of duty, saying that economic recovery and the healing of political divisions could only begin once he resigned.
Organizers said they deliberately chose to hold the rally at the same site of the 1986 "people power" revolt, which saw Marcos toppled and Aquino put in his place.
The church, as well as Aquino also played a key role in that revolt, when thousands of people blocked a major highway. In the face of the revolt, Marcos fled into exile.
During the rally, Estrada flew to Rizal province outside the capital to distribute relief goods to victims of typhoon Bebinca which had hit the country this week.
Police officials said 3,000 security officers had been deployed for crowd control and to direct traffic in the latest in a series of protests against Estrada.
Most of the rallyists dispersed peacefully but a small group of leftists remained to stage their own protest action – MANILA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
