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Philippines: Trial To Go On While Estrada Says He Will Win
by Kazi Mahmood
JAKARTA (IslamOnline) - The Philippines witnessed a stormy session on Tuesday when the senate sat as an impeachment court decided to reject President Joseph Estrada’s motion to quash the Articles of Impeachment.
Opposition senators feared that pro-administration colleagues of Estrada would approve the motion to stop the impeachment trial.
However, Judge Davide Jr.’s decision to kill Estrada’s motion relieved many and could probably be the beginning of the end of the embattled President.
Estrada said on Tuesday that he accepted the verdict given by Davide, and gave his word he would not contest it. He, however, said that he would win in the trial, confident that he has a majority of the senate behind him.
During an evening discussion, several opposition senators elected to meet with Davide. But seven opposition senators objected to the holding of a caucus, saying it would exert "undue pressure" on Davide, the presiding officer of the impeachment court.
Sources said opposition senators were expecting Davide to reject the motion filed by the President’s lawyers who contend that the House of Representatives did not follow proper impeachment procedures prescribed by the Constitution.
Earlier Monday, Senator Cayetano said that somebody tampered with the record of the Senate floor deliberations on November 15 to make it appear that the impeachment rules allow the President’s lawyers to file a motion to quash the Articles of Impeachment.
Cayetano denounced the tampering of the Senate journal in a privilege speech, prompting Senate leader Pimentel to call for an investigation.
"Who made the interpolation? Who authorized it? Did a high authority ask them to correct it? Were the lawyers of Erap previously informed of the interpolation that they were emboldened to file a motion to quash?" Cayetano asked in a press conference an hour before delivering his speech.
While Cayetano was delivering his privilege speech, Estrada was telling mayors in Malacañang that he would be acquitted in the Senate trial.
"I assure the Filipino people that I will be acquitted because the truth is on my side," he told 200 mayors who took their oaths as members of the ruling LAMP coalition.
"As head of the party, I will help all of you win [in the May local elections]," Estrada promised.
Observers in Manila, however, believe Estrada will face a no-win situation at the impeachment trial expected on December 7th on bribery and corruption charges.
If exonerated, it's likely public protests against him will intensify, exacting a heavy toll on an economy already reeling from a sweeping loss of business confidence.
If convicted, the 63-year-old erstwhile film actor will go down in Philippine and Asian history as the first ever serving president to be booted out of office.
Moreover, a successful impeachment trial would mean that Estrada would no longer be immune from criminal suits, as his removal from office would make him a private citizen.
Opposition groups have already readied a litany of criminal cases they will lodge with the courts once the 22-seat Senate, which has constituted itself into a tribunal, finds him guilty as charged.
The charges range from unexplained wealth to bribery, corruption and betrayal of public trust - the same as those hurled against him before the Senate tribunal.
At least 15, or two-thirds of the, Senate votes are needed to topple Estrada, now almost two years into his six-year term, which ends in 2004.
An acquittal requires at least eight votes. How the senators will cast their votes - either for acquittal or conviction - will hinge largely on the preponderance of evidence the 11 prosecutors will present during the trial which is expected to last two months.
The prosecutors, all congressmen, say they have an airtight case against Estrada, citing evidence and witnesses at their disposal to warrant his removal from office.
One witness is Ilocos Sur governor Luis Singson, Estrada's disgruntled drinking buddy who blew the whistle on the president's alleged corrupt practices.
Singson accused Estrada of pocketing some $12 million in bribes from illegal gambling bosses and skimming kickbacks from tobacco excise taxes - the base of the impeachment motion against him.
Estrada has denied the charges, saying he will face the trial personally and prove that his accuser is "a congenital liar" and that the charges were trumped up.
He had hired two of the country's top-notch legal luminaries as defense counsel - a former Supreme Court chief justice and a former chief government lawyer.
Analysts fear that unless the impeachment suit is quickly resolved, political instability will persist that could drag down the economy to a recession next year.
The peso has slumped to historic lows against the U.S. dollar, while the share market is in the doldrums since the Estrada controversy erupted last October 9th.
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