Estrada won’t resign, testify in trial — Palace

Malacañang rejected yesterday renewed calls for President Estrada to resign and to testify at his impeachment trial even after Makati Rep. Joker Arroyo said this would make the House pro-secution panel return to the impeachment court.

But acting Press Secretary Mike Toledo rejected Arroyo’s suggestion, saying the prosecutors, who had resigned last Wednesday, were in no position to set conditions.

"I don’t think that they are in a position to make any conditions right now because we have to follow the law," Toledo said.

The prosecutors resigned en masse after a split Senate vote that excluded vital evidence from the trial.

Appearing on the TV program of Kris Aquino, daughter of former President Corazon Aquino,Arroyo said he may return to the impeachment court if Mr. Estrada took the stand. Arroyo was then having a spirited debate with presidential defense lawyer Sigfried Fortun, who was being interviewed live by Aquino over the phone.

Chief Justice Hilario Davide, presiding officer of the impeachment trial, has suspended the proceedings pending action from the House of Representatives which transmitted the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Nov. 13.

"I understand that the House leadership rejected their resignation, but a decision has been made as far as the Chief Justice is concerned. We’ll leave it at that," Toledo said.

"Their withdrawal confirms what we’ve been saying, the case has no legal leg to stand on. So they have to depend on trial by publicity. They have to find a dramatic way, use the (exclusion of the evidence) as an exit point to justify their withdrawal from the case," he added.

But as the Palace tries to persuade the prosecutors to return to the trial that turned to their favor overnight, mass protest rallies continued to mushroom in key cities nationwide.

As the President’s foes kept up the pressure and his friends started shifting sides, Mr. Estrada’s critics expressed confidence that his resignation is just around the corner.

"Definitely not, far from it... The President has no intention of resigning," Toledo insisted, dismissing notions that the President’s flurry of meetings with police and military officials was a sign of panic.

"Of course there were some meetings in the light of what transpired the other night. And I think that is but a manifestation of a very responsible government," said Toledo.

Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo warned on Wednesday that at least two groups are planning to stage separate coups either to remove Mr. Estrada from office or reduce him to a figurehead.

But Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado stressed the situation was "fairly quiet" and "there is no group, no charismatic person able to induce the military" to move against Mr. Estrada.

"If they are waiting for military intervention to lead them to victory, they will be waiting in vain," Mercado said, apparently referring to the street protests.

Toledo, however, stressed that Mr. Estrada has given "very clear instructions to allow these rallies, to exercise maximum tolerance in dealing with them, but of course to also ensure that there will be no lawless violence."

Aside from the three-day-old protest rally at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City, various national and local groups have staged protest rallies in the cities of Cebu, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro and Davao, among other areas.

The rallies have sent stock prices falling another 1.4 percent after a six percent plunge on Wednesday. The peso also continued to fall to its lowest levels in history.

The political disruption is alarming the country’s economic managers and business leaders, who are now appealing for a compromise in the prevailing stalemate.

The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) said both pro-and anti-Estrada forces should strike a compromise to avert possible economically disruptive scenarios.

ECOP president Donald Dee said in a radio interview that the resignation of Mr. Estrada is not the solution since there is a mix of sentiments among Filipinos.

"If Estrada resigns, it’s the pro-Erap groups’ turn to take to the streets. This will be a never-ending problem that will affect our economy," Dee said.

"We in the ECOP believe that the only solution is for a compromise to be reached by both sides," he added.

The head of the biggest employers’ group in the country called on the military to do its duty as the protector of civilian authority and urged the citizenry to maintain sobriety to minimize effect on the nation’s touchy economy.

"Of course, they don’t like the economy to collapse. If they continue doing these street rallies, we will all be affected. We in the business sector hope these disruptions will end soon," Dee said.