Estrada: I’ll resign if…

Embattled President Estrada said yesterday he will immediately step down if it could be proved that he received money from illegal gambling syndicates or stole from the national coffers.

At the same time, the President said he is ready to face his accusers during impeachment proceedings in Congress.

Mr. Estrada reiterated, however, that he is innocent of the charges hurled by Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson that he got more than P400 million in jueteng payoffs since taking over the presidency on June 30, 1998.

"If it is proven that I accepted a single centavo from illegal gambling or took it from the national coffers, I will not stay a minute longer in my position as President," Mr. Estrada said in a speech at the surrender rites for a group of Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerrillas in Kidapawan, North Cotabato.

"They are accusing me that graft and corruption is rampant in the Office of the President. So to those who ask me to resign, this I say to them: I will never, never do that because I have a sworn duty to our Filipino masses," Mr. Estrada said.

In an affidavit he submitted to the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee, Singson also claimed that he delivered to the President P130 million out of P200 million representing his province’s share of the tobacco excise tax as ordered released in 1998 by Mr. Estrada.

Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who quit last Oct. 12 her concurrent post as secretary of social welfare and development, joined mounting calls for Mr. Estrada to relinquish his post as a compromise to resolve the raging political and economic crisis spawned by the scandal.

"During the past few weeks, the presidency has been besieged by many politically motivated attacks aimed at discrediting my moral credibility to lead this nation. They have done this during the campaign by resorting to dirty tactics, black propaganda and smear campaign, but they failed," Mr. Estrada rued.

"They have done this in the two years of my presidency and they, too, failed. They are continuing to do this now and I am certain that they will fail again," the Chief Executive stressed.

He also lamented that some people appeared to have already convicted him without due process, based on the allegations of Singson whom he described as "a man who you cannot even trust."

"Very surprisingly, without even hearing my side, they have already condemned me," he said.

Apparently hurt by the snowballing opposition to his leadership, the President appealed that he be given his day in court. "We are governed by the rule of law and not the rule of men. So I feel that I (should) be given my day in court. I respect our constitutional processes. That is why I have not answered yet these accusations because I am still waiting for them to be completed."

Mr. Estrada accused the opposition of spreading "ugly, false rumors" meant to create a "bad image on your President that affects the image of the country here and abroad."

Resign calls won’t die down

The influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the faithful to respond to a call by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin for them to join a nationwide prayer rally at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City to press for Mr. Estrada’s resignation.

On the other hand, the Erap Resign Movement in Caloocan City is poised to stage a rally today and tomorrow.

"Let us pray together. Another suggested activity would be mobilization for prayer for our country," said CBCP president Archbishop Orlando Quevedo.

"We need to pray for our leaders that they may place the common good above private and partisan interests and that they may be open to God’s enlightenment," Quevedo said.

He also enjoined all parishioners to organize prayer sessions in their respective localities.

Dubbed "Ikalawang Sigaw sa Caloocan: Erap Resign," today’s protest action, spearheaded by Councilor Edgar Erice, will be held at the Bonifacio Monument starting at 3 p.m. Tomorrow’s rally will be at the Morning Breeze Plaza.

"This is a multisectoral rally which will bring out the sentiments of the Caloocan residents against the anomalies and incompetence in national government," Erice said.

He also called on the city’s residents to join hands and denounced alleged "abuses and despotism" of Mr. Estrada.

Erice assailed the President for alleged "blatant manipulation" of the poor when Mr. Estrada distributed land titles to squatter families in Dagat-Dagatan in Tondo. "Even though he did not personally award those lots to at least 10 temporary settlers, the land titles will surely be given to them for they are already paying for those lots."

Those expected to speak at today’s rally are Singson, Senate Minority Leader Teofisto Guingona Jr. and Representatives Heherson Alvarez of Isabela, Mike Defensor of Quezon City, Juan Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon, Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte and Hernani Braganza of Pangasinan.

Joker rules out EDSA, Part II

Despite the intensifying sentiments against the Estrada administration, Makati City Rep. Joker Arroyo ruled out a repetition of the historic EDSA revolt in 1986.

Arroyo feared that unlike the almost bloodless coup that topped the Marcos dictatorship 14 years ago, the current crisis might lead to bloodshed.

Arroyo alleged that Philippine National Police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson, Mr. Estrada’s most trusted policeman, "is capable of killing people."

"If Mr. Estrada leaves because he is under pressure, I cannot imagine what Lacson can do and who will succeed the President," Arroyo said.

He called on the people to let the impeachment case in the House reach its rightful conclusion.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) said change in the country’s leadership should be immediate in view of the economic crisis.

"The economy is eroding so fast and recovery might not wait for four more years so a change in the leadership is now needed," said CEAP president Fr. Roderick Salazar Jr.

Salazar said while the CEAP supports the impeachment, they prefer that the President voluntarily steps down. "Resignation is a more heroic thing to be done by President Estrada."

Senate to pursue inquiry on paoyffs

The Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and the committee on justice will pursue their joint hearing on the alleged jueteng payola allegedly involving the President, some members of his family and certain Cabinet secretaries.

Blue Ribbon Committee chairman Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has subpoenaed Yolanda Ricaforte, her doctor and the medical director of the Medical City Hospital in Pasig to appear at the hearing.

Aside from Ricaforte, whom Singson said was an accountant assigned by Mr. Estrada to his office to monitor the jueteng collections, those expected to attend Monday’s hearing are Alma Alfaro, Delia Rajas and Eleuterio Tan who were tagged as the recipients of the P130 million in tobacco excise tax Singson allegedly remitted to the President.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Osmeña said he would inhibit himself from asking questions during the inquiry, saying the forum is a de facto trial of the President in view of the impeachment case pending at the House.

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has also filed a resolution enjoining the two committees to limit their probe to the illegal gambling activities and must keep their hands off issues affecting the President.

However, Santiago’s measure, filed on Wednesday, was not acted upon by the chamber, paving the way for a continuance of the hearing.

Pimentel, along with Sen. Renato Cayetano, chairman of the justice committee, argued that their probe has nothing to do with the impeachment case, adding that their inquiry was in aid of legislation.

Among the laws being eyed for amendments were the bribery law and the abolition of the Philippine Gaming and Amusement Corp.

Pro-Estrada groups do their own thing

A group of protesters calling themselves as members of the "Save the Poor Movement," picketed the offices of the Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) in Makati City for alleged "vicious, one-sided attacks" on the President.

Lito Descaller, SOM secretary-general, said that the PDI’s aggressive stance against the President was one of the reasons for the collapse of the national economy.

"The PDI is merely pandering to the wishes of the economic elite who are undoubtedly bent on unseating Estrada," Descaller said.

"What is happening right now is not the result of a love lost between Estrada and the elite because not once did the President get the support from the rich in our country. Day and night, the rich is hatching a plot to oust Estrada," he added.

He said the real issue is not the jueteng payola, but the decline of the economy as being orchestrated by the elite.

"Worse, the Inquirer’s shoot-first-ask-questions-later type of journalism is only succeeding at hastening the downfall of the economy and threatening to bring chaos nationwide," Descaller said.

Meanwhile, Catanduanes Gov. Hector Sanchez dared Singson to identify provincial officials allegedly receiving bribe money from jueteng operators.

Sanchez also filed administrative charges before the Department of the Interior and Local Government against Singson for allegedly threatening to link him and 33 others to the jueteng mess.

Sanchez said the threat was made by Singson during a caucus of the League of Governors of the Philippines at the Century Park Hotel in Manila on Oct. 19.

In another development, Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio Morales Jr. said he remained loyal to Mr. Estrada. "I will stay with the Cabinet. I still believe that President Estrada’s reform policies are correct which we will fight to the end."

Morales issued the assurance to dispel rumors that he is quitting the Cabinet due to the jueteng scandal. – With Sandy Araneta, Pete Laude, Perseus Echeminada, Sheila Crisostomo, Cecille Suerte-Felipe, Jose Rodel Clapano, Paolo Romero