Showbiz to Estrada: Stand firm

Leaders and members of the movie industry rallied behind President Estrada yesterday as they urged Congress to get to the truth instead of subjecting the Chief Executive to a "kangaroo trial."

In a joint statement, movie producers, film directors, scriptwriters, ci-nematographers, film distributors, actors and actresses, and other movie workers called on the President "to hang on and stand firm," and advised him not to step down from office at a time when the economy is under extreme international pressure.

The signatories included Marichu Vera Perez-Maceda, president of the Film Development Foundation of the Philippines; Mel Chionglo, Edgardo Vinarao, and Joel Lamangan of the Directors Guild of the Philippines; Felix Dulay, Jerry Tirazona, William Mayo, Mauro Gia Samonte, Augusto Buenaventura, Bert Mendoza, Diego Cagahastian, and Romy Suzara of the Kapisanan ng mga Direktor sa Pelikulang Pilipino; Senen Dimaguila of the Screenwriters of the Philippines, and Armida Siguion-Reyna, chairwoman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

They questioned the timing of Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin’s call for the President to resign based solely on the allegations of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson.

They said the call "comes as international economic pressures are bearing down on the peso, and prices of basic commodities are expected to rise due to oil price increases."

They said the opposition and other parties with political interests have joined the call, "hoping to lure the uninformed into creating a groundswell of protest to either pressure the President into resigning or push the lawmakers to impeach him on the basis, so far, of a trial by publicity."

"The issue on hand is being investigated and until such time as evidence is presented to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt, the President must continue to receive the respect its Office rightly deserves," the statement read.

Members of the movie industry warned that removing Mr. Estrada through a "kangaroo trial" could even be more dangerous to the economy, and could render useless the due process mandate of the Constitution.

"As we have all been victims in the past of an authoritarian regime that came into power toying with the Constitution, we must now take great pains to ensure that the governing law of the land is upheld at all costs," they said. "It is there not only to protect presidents, but more so, ordinary citizens."

In a separate letter to the President, Siguion-Reyna pointed out that the Chief Executive has been under attack not because he took money from jueteng, but because he was the only leader of the country who has succeeded in his efforts to stamp out the illegal numbers game.

Siguion-Reyna said the public should not simply ignore the President’s excellent leadership that had enabled him to act on the Mindanao problem.

"Your (Mr. Estrada’s) predecessors – even the American governors general during the American regime – have chosen to ignore them or as in the case of the Mindanao problem, skirted the problem by bribing the leaders with money and logging concessions," she said.

"Only you had the courage to face the issues squarely and offer permanent solutions. For these, you deserve the country’s commendations."

The evidence which Singson presented to support his allegations that the President took jueteng money were: an affidavit and a taped conversation with presidential auditor Yolanda Ricaforte. But the Ricaforte tape is inadmissible as evidence.

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee has so far called only two public hearings to investigate Singson’s allegations, and its members have yet to test the veracity of Singson’s testimonies and his documentary evidence.