Lies, tricks – signs of Erap desperation - GOTCHA by Jarius Bondoc

INTERACTION-1. Frank Borja, Michigan: That’s a thought-provoking piece: Reform the President or change the system (Gotcha, 27 Nov. 2000) Reforms must always be for public good – and not shut out the poor as Malacañang does.

Greg Campomanes, mindspring.com: Even if Erap repents, he must still be punished if found guilty. We can’t bend the law to suit our emotions.

Vic de Gorostiza, Jersey City: The crisis plaguing our country also offers a rare opportunity for a thorough overhaul of our corrupt political system.

Benjie Pastor, hotmail.com: Shouldn’t Erap be charged with inciting to sedition by fomenting a class war between rich and poor (Gotcha, 25 Nov. 2000)?

Virgilio Yap, edsamail.com: Let’s start calling Erap as Joseph Ejercito, not Estrada. He says his father’s only wish was that he not bring shame to the family name.

Daimler Ong, edsamail.com: Erap said the sinking peso is a regional phenomenon. He should know that Japan’s Mori, Indonesia’s Wahid and Taiwan’s Chen are also being asked to resign. Impeachment is also a regional phenomenon.

Dr. Leila H. Barona, yahoo.com: If Erap is sincere about giving away land titles (Gotcha, 22 Nov. 2000), why do so only after "Juetengate"?

E. Hernandez Gardiner, datelnet.net: Senators should see videotapes of the mansions, so they can make a good judgment on his extravagance.

Thank you, Juan Ventura, Policarpio Ty Co, Roger Manalastas, E.C. Ibazeta, Julio Chan, Roberto Perez, Melvin de la Cuesta, William Tang, Dr. Zen Udani, Dante Gutierrez, Jacob Solano, Jorge Miranda, Gene Bue, Oscar Venturina, Jose Labrador, Jeremy Tan, Carmen Castelo, Filomena Alegre, Sherwin Michael Tejano, Victorio Matias, Esmeraldo Cato, Gras Reyes, Dominador Mungcal.

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Makati reader Joey Legarda laments: "Joseph Estrada is the biggest disinformation agent. He keeps discounting resignation as a constitutional option. And he keeps claiming that he won by a landslide in 1998."

Estrada is doing worse than disinforming. He is distorting the Constitution by saying he will resign if found guilty of his impeachment charges. When that time comes, nobody will allow him to resign anymore. He will be booted out of office, as the Constitution states, and barred from holding any public office in the future. He would have blown his chance for a graceful exit.

As for his claim of an election landslide, the figures don’t lie. Out of 37 million registered voters in 1998, 34 million cast their ballots. Estrada got 10.5 million, or 30 percent, a mere plurality and not a landslide.

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Criminal regimes resort to lies and tricks to hide their evil intentions. Hitler did it. Marcos did it.

Estrada and his minions are doing it not only to mask their aims. They’re so desperate with their tottering situation that they’re clutching at straws of lies and tricks to hold on to power.

Spouses Pinky and Eddie Cuenca were among hundreds of recent victims of such trickery during Estrada’s trip to Singapore last week. That trip happened to coincide with the graduation of Filipino domestic helpers from a computer course. An embassy officer asked the graduates and their guests to sign their attendance. To their surprise, Ambassador Jesus Yabes attached the attendance sheet to a concocted resolution of unconditional support for Estrada and condemnation of demands for his resignation.

The Cuencas and their fellow-victims fear the prospect of going down in history as rah-rah boys of a man they deem "intellectually, morally and maybe even physically unfit to lead the land." Many of the graduates later said in interviews that they’d never support someone who has done nothing for them. Individually and through Filipino community leader Ophelia Bakker-Mananquil, they’ve asked Yabes to retract the resolution. They’ve also written Estrada to give him a piece of their mind, especially about his claim that he met with 100,000 of them. Malacañang is silent about the affair.

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Another instance of dishonesty: Estrada patted himself in the back for the third quarter’s 4.8-percent economic growth which the statistics office announced only this week. He used the figure to belie statements by businessmen that the economy has fallen.

Those statements were issued in late October, when Luis Singson’s jueteng exposé of October 5-9 burst into national outrage and resignations from Estrada’s Cabinet and ruling party. On the other hand, even a drunk knows that the third-quarter figures covered July to September.

And even with the mismatched time frames, analysts attributed the 4.8-percent growth to inventory stockpiling by the manufacturing sector in anticipation of brisk Christmas sales. Traders and producers are sorry now that they did, because the political crisis arising from loss of confidence in Estrada is foretelling bleak holidays.

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Economic Planning Secretary Felipe Medalla was beside himself with glee and not with shame from the figures. He said he expected only 3.5-percent growth, which means he inefficiently did not keep his ears close to the ground.

At any rate, the 4.8-percent mark does not tell the whole story. He conveniently did not talk about the investments that fled in the third quarter because of disgust with cronyism and the BW Resources stock market scam. He kept quiet, too, about his earlier acknowledgment that 3.5 million were jobless at that time.

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Now Medalla is so euphoric that he’s forecasting 3.4 percent growth in the last quarter. If he doesn’t attain that mark, Estrada will have a ready excuse – the rallies for his resignation ruined the economy.

Estrada can’t make himself admit that the rallies will be there during good economic times or bad. The issue is his loss of moral ascendancy to lead, as gleaned from the serial crimes for which he is being tried. An economic downturn in the last quarter will mirror that loss of confidence – and also magnify his inability to manage the country.

That downturn is already being felt in the number of companies shutting down and jobs continually being lost each week. Foreign and local businessmen are not expanding, they’re cutting on production and costs. Inflation is eating up what is left of the peso’s weakened purchasing power. Vegetables cost double today than in the third quarter. Bangko Sentral Gov. Rafael Buenaventura is scratching his head, puzzled with why remittances from overseas workers are delayed by two weeks from the usual flood of foreign exchange. What he doesn’t realize is that workers deliberately are not sending money in anticipation of worse times.

Of course, these things don’t matter to Estrada. He’d rather believe his own propaganda, the only thing that makes him feel good these days.

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INTERACTION-2. These letters were snipped off my Monday and Wednesday columns for lack of space.

Luciano Adan, netscape.net: Offer Erap the carrot and stick – absolute immunity from criminal charges if he resigns, absolute prosecution if he refuses.

Ched Arzadon, digitelone.com: Just before "Juetengate," I examined my husband’s pay slip and was indignant to note how much government gets every month to support corrupt and inept officials. The taxes we pay is enough to buy a car (we don’t own one), bigger than our monthly rent (no house either), more than what we give to charity (we’re ardent devotees), more than what we spend for our parents (who rely on us), higher than our clothing expenses (and we don’t mind buying cheap shirts). We live simple lives for the likes of Erap? No wonder Andres Bonifacio and our heroes tore their cedulas.

Tony Reyes, Everett, Wa.: Impeachment can be very expensive. Precious time and money can be saved if he resigns now, so the economy will suffer no more and the difficult task of recovering from his mess can begin.

Samuel Lim, Cebu: He won’t resign. He claims his conscience is clear. Rally instead for the resignation of remaining decent men in the Cabinet.

Bess Icasiano, un.org: Filipinos working in the UN headquarters feel embarrassed when officers ask them why we elected a womanizer and gambler into the highest office.

Paul Marion Gonzaga, hotmail.com: If Chavit did not blow the whistle, somebody would still be getting a monthly jueteng payola, somebody’s bingo will be underway, somebody would not have to return his balato.

Ana Quintos Sy-Quia, mydestiny.net: Marcos loyalists distancing themselves from Erap does not merit a cent. They’re angry because Erap called their beloved Marcos a dictator. Hello?

Renato de Leon, edsamail.com: To enforce the Clean Air Act, LTO and MMDA should check tricycles. It’s common knowledge that old two-stroke bikes burn 2T oil mixed into the gasoline. This makes them emit thick white, foul smoke.

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