The conspiracy of Edsa 2: how Gloria Arroyo managed not to let President Joseph Estrada finish his term

Let [President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] finish her term. She's doing so well. Why can't you wait?

- M. Andrews, presidential ex-classmate


Uttered amidst the increasing pressure for Gloria Arroyo to resign, this statement made by an Assumptionista high school classmate of the beleaguered President is actually a boomerang question that Andrews should have asked her pal seven years ago during the power grab disguised as Edsa 2 "People Power." Why did then Vice-President Arroyo not wait for the overwhelmingly-elected Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada to finish his term, instead of grabbing the Philippine presidency away from him in 2001? In the face of accusations of supposed corruption and resignation calls against Estrada, similar to what Arroyo is facing now, why didn't she wait? Why???

The answer is that Gloria Arroyo and his husband, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, were among those who planned, along with elements from the rich business groups, the religious or hypocritical Catholic bishops and the rapacious fellow opportunist politicians, the ouster of the hugely popular Estrada. Contrary to what have been largely projected in the unscrupulous traditional media, the Arroyo camp manipulated and conned the gullible but perhaps well-meaning Edsa 2 mob that demanded Estrada step down after it became clear that the Senate would not impeach the sitting President.



Various international and local media accounts during and after the Edsa 2 coup d etat during the fateful days of January 2001 together paint the complete picture of how the Arroyos "hijacked the Philippines," as referred to by outspoken local journalist Ellen Tordesillas. Accounts come from the movie "Power Grab from President Estrada," Philippine Graphic, Time Magazine, The Straits Times, International Herald Tribune and New York Times.

Trampling on the 1987 Philippine Charter and the Electoral Process

According to no less than the Honorable Cecilia Munoz-Palma, the former Supreme Court Justice and chairperson of the 1987 Constitutional Commission, Edsa 2 caused the 1987 Constitution to suffer. "This happened when the ongoing impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada, was unceremoniously disrupted and discontinued, and the issues on hand were brought to the streets. The rule of law was set aside and the rule of force prevailed.”


Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, as quoted in the January 26, 2001 issue of The Straits Times, believed that “The change of power in the Philippines was no boost for democracy because it was done outside the constitution...”

Philip Bowring of the International Herald Tribune wrote in January 22, 2001 that "far from being a victory for democracy that is being claimed by leaders of the Anti-Estrada Movement such as Jaime Sin, the evolution of [the Edsa 2] events have been a defeat for due process.”


The New York Times’ account, through Seth Mydans' article on February 6, 2001, reported how Edsa 2 was perceived as "an elitist backlash against a president who had overwhelmingly been elected by the poor. This time, it appears, "people power" was used not to restore democracy but, momentarily, to supplant it."

On January 21, 2001, Gloria Arroyo took her oath of office in open air, amidst the jeering jubilation of a mob gullible enough to believe it was pure "People Power" at work in the ouster of the popular President. Estrada, the only post-Martial Law President who has been unequivocally elected into Malacanang, expressed "strong and serious doubts about the legality and constitutionality of her proclamation as President". Earlier, protesters in lynch mode had broken through the barriers of the presidential palace where the embattled President had holed up.

Sinister and Well-Planned

Ludicrously unknown to the manipulated, gullible crowd of Edsa 2, the conjugal greed of Mrs. and Mr. Arroyo had been well in the works days before Estrada's impeachment trial began in the Senate. Two months after Gloria Arroyo took the presidency, the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo recounted events that led up to Edsa 2--revealing the political machinations and scheming that the husband and wife team conducted behind the doors. The following are excerpts from the interview Mike Arroyo granted to acclaimed Filipino writer Nick Joaquin, which appeared in the March 5, 2001 issue of the Philippine Graphic:

"[Vice-President Gloria Arroyo] had really left the Cabinet at the right moment: the timing was perfect. If she had tarried a moment longer, she would have been too late for EDSA: she would have made it there as an opportunist. And as for the ill-feeling in Metro Manila, we tackled that by going back to the door-to-door campaign: she went from barangay to barangay explaining her motives, outlining her program. And it worked. Then came the impeachment trial, and from there, tuloy-tuloy na [everything fell into place.

"There was a time honestly, when I felt I erred in advising her to resign from the Cabinet. The masa [masses] in Manila apparently wanted her to stick it out with Erap. And when she started attacking him, everything fell on us - grabe [terrible!]- everything! But I told myself: it's now or never; if we lose here we're totally destroyed and it's goodbye to her political career - but if we win here, she becomes President! So we really fought.

"We got all those Erap tapes from Ramon Jacinto and distributed them all over. We bought one million and a half million copies of Pinoy Times to give away so the public could read about the Erap mansions and bank accounts.

"And when EDSA happened, we texted everybody to go running there. EDSA, EDSA: everybody converge on EDSA! Panalo kung panalo! [Patay kung patay [Come victory or defeat!] Jinggoy [Estrada] had already announced what they would do to us if they won.

"Chavit Singson had Plan B involving elements of the military to strike the first blow. They would kindle the spark by withdrawing from the government, and one by one others would follow: Class '71 would also withdraw, then Class '72, and so forth. But General de Villa warned that the timing had to be precise because one untimely move against the government and the military would automatically defend it. The move must be made at what De Villa called a 'defining moment.'



"You see, General De Villa had his Plan A, which was better than ours, because his was focused on the Chief of Staff and the Service Commanders. At past one o'clock p.m. January 20, Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes defected but we knew that already the night before, when negotiations had lasted until the small hours. By past 2 a.m. we knew Reyes had been convinced to join. His only condition was: Show us a million people on EDSA so it will be easier to bring in the service commanders.

"And they asked when the crowd was thickest; we told them: from three to five in the afternoon. So they agreed to come to EDSA at around that time. But while hiding in their safehouse, they got reports that General Calimlim could not be located and their first thought was: "He's out looking for us!" So they decided to rush to EDSA right away. When they got there, why there too at the Shrine was Calimlim! He had been looking for them all right, but join to join them, not to arrest them!

"Our group there was a back-up strike force. In fact, it was our group that won over to our side the PNP first. If [Philippine National Police Chief] Panfilo Lacson had resisted, he and his men would have been repelled: there would have been bloodshed, but not on EDSA. In every place where Erap loyalists had a force, we had a counter-force to face it, with orders to shoot. And not only in Metro Manila. Carillo had already been sent to the provinces; and in Nueva Ecija, for instance, we had Rabosa. This was a fight to the finish. That's why those five days that Erap was demanding were so important. He was counting on counter-coups and baliktaran [loyalty switch].

"I was negotiating with Pardon up to three o'clock in the morning: niloloko lang pala kami [we were only being deceived]. But I told him point-blank: "If by six o'clock this morning you haven't given us the resignation letter, we will storm the gates of Malacañang!' But they insisted on more talk: with De Villa up front, and my back channel debate with Pardo, which even became a three-way contest, with Buboy Virata pitching in.

"But the threat to march to Malacañang was for real. And so was the danger of bloodshed. I wasn't telling Gloria everything: I didn't want her alarmed. So she didn't know about the orders to shoot."

Mike Arroyo's unguarded revelations surprisingly lend practically indisputable credence to Estrada's assessment of the Edsa 2 development. As it appeared in the Feb. 11, 2001 issue of Time magazine, Estrada described Edsa 2 as not actually a "People Power" uprising but rather, "swift justice indeed -- as in a lynching. It repudiated the very essence of due process enshrined in the constitution. Mob rule catapulted Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the presidency..." Estrada's belief that Edsa 2 "was hatched in the boardrooms and gated villages of Metro Manila and backed by a text-messaging generation" would unwittingly be corroborated by the better half of the presidential usurper.

Why did Arroyo not wait for Estrada to finish his term ending 2004? Why did she and her husband have to spend and buy 1.5 million anti-Estrada propaganda material? Why did they scheme with seditious politicians, influential civilians and generals for the unconstitutional ouster of a democratically elected and largely popular sitting president? As the First Gentleman revealed himself in the interview by Joaquin, the masses wanted her to be loyal to Estrada. Why did she go against the will of the majority? The answer is simply because she was the ambitious character who was next in the line of succession who decided to manipulate the situation into the opportunity to 'inherit' Malacanang early enough, and without the prospect of possible electoral defeat in May 2004. Coming from the mouth of the horse's husband, ...if we win here, she becomes President!".

Cory, the Youth, Intellectuals and Civil Society "Gullibles"--All Been Had

The Edsa II "People Power" coup d e'tat was hatched through the coalesced leadership of elements of political opportunists galvanizing under then Vice-President Arroyo, rebel military influenced by ex-President Fidel Ramos, Catholic bishops led by Jaime Cardinal Sin, and Philippine leftists such as former communist rebel Satur Ocampo. Undoubtedly, there were other groups behind the unconstitutional fiesta mob rule of the 2001 Edsa. There were the influential business elites, of course, and as well, the Protestant Jesus is Lord Movement by Bro. Eddie Villanueva. These groups could be said to be the plotters, each of which falls into the category of either being devious, vengeful, or well-meaning but misguided. Estrada was, after all, far from perfect. It was easy for those with poor democratic values to seek the Machiavellian way out of a President who acted like, and preferred to identify himself with the masses, perhaps much too much.

On the other, there were the truly idealistic elements who only sought better governance for the Philippines. Former President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, acknowledged to be more of a moral force than a politician, by the civil society in particular, had of course been actively campaigning for Erap's resignation. But there were also the youth and the intellectuals. The youth, mostly prodded by the officials from their Catholic schools, and college students, influenced by their professors or student organizations, were very much part of Edsa II. These groups believed in using pure "People Power," enshrined in the Constitution, as vehicle for a change in government. The views of these elements were perhaps best summed up by the University of the Philippines Professor Clarita Carlos: during the TV broadcast coverage of the five days of the Edsa 2, she urged the Philippine military "Huwag na kayong makialam pa" ["Don't interevene anymore"]. The UP political scientist, along with the rest of the idealistic components, genuinely believed that the Estrada government could be removed by sheer force of an adulterated "People Power" movement. Alas, unknown to them were the schemes of the Arroyos and conspiring elements, not to change the government for the better, but to grab power from a President not to their taste and plans. As would later be unraveled through the Mike Arroyo interview and other accounts, the youth and the academic/intellectual community simply served to be gullible pawns in the power grab conspiracy of a fallacious Edsa 2.

Karma and Fallacy of the Power Grab

Today, in the midst of the increasing pressure for her resignation, Gloria Arroyo, through her elite-educated friends, has the gall to tell Filipinos to wait? Apart from her vile and illegitimate ascent to the presidency, Filipinos have all the right reasons to have her evicted. Why so? Gloria Arroyo is `not doing well. Well, at least not, in terms of her administration of the country well.



For one, a seemingly endless litany of corruption issues that virtually began on day one of her extraconstitutional ascent to power has led to her earning the humiliating title of "Most Corrupt" Philippine President, based on a 2007 national survey study. Recently, she bagged the moniker "evil" following the Senate investigation on the anomalous NBN-ZTE contract. Her record on human rights has been so alarming that even the European Union got concerned. Even independent, foreign entities have found the poor, if not dismal, state of the Southeast Asian nation under her regime. The latest of these is the Bertelsmann Foundation study that perhaps best reveals the general picture of the obtaining state of the Philippines under Gloria Arroyo. The Bertelsmann Foundation Transformation Index points to how the country has fallen in global ranking to 51 from 41 registered two years ago. “ The study also bares how:

[President] Arroyo took advantage of a range of undemocratic methods, critical media and utilizing government tools to secure the support of parliament. The murder of opponents, a dramatically high level of violence against journalists and repeated attempts to instrumentalize constitutional controls also represent deficiencies in democratic development.”

The Philippines is now faced with the spectacle of yet another change of leadership, as elements of the influential Catholic Church, big business and high-end civil society have staged various protest activities directed against the current occupant of Malacanang, the very President they illegitimately installed back in 2001. As eastern wisdom says 'the karmic cup may be slow to fill, but fill it will.' It has been seven long years since hers and Mike Arroyo's conjugal greed hijacked the Philippine presidency, but their karmic cup of evil lies and fraud and rapacious greed is full and ready to pour hard on them. Karmic, ironic, pathetic.

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The Stupidity of the EDSA 2 "People Power" Gullibles Relived

A running broadcast advertisement is reliving the stupidity of the EDSA 2 crowd conned into deposing the constitutionally-elected Joseph Estrada and installing Gloria Arroyo as successor. The anniversary advert running in Philippine television stations shows Arroyo swearing in as "acting President" amidst the seditious sea of mob humanity who flocked the streets of EDSA. What follows is a series of 'testimonies' of ordinary individuals who claim to have experienced economic gains after the revolutionary change in government. Amidst the consistent surveys showing the worst levels of hunger, worst perceptions of corruption and worsening personal and national quality of life and--all under Arroyo’s illicit reign--the political spot comes as almost a complete joke.


This laughable political advert is part of the "Arroyo administration's seventh anniversary celebration of the now infamous EDSA 2 putsch-cum-People Power that overthrew the popular Estrada, and which sent the Filipinos into seven years of polarization and political instability. It illustrates how Arroyo has used the power of media to seize power and even, to maintain her hold on it.

The traditional local media had largely hailed the 2001 coup as a "People Power" triumph over the supposed corruption of President Estrada. In fact, the mainstream broadcast and print Philippine media have served as an influential force in advancing the demonization and ouster of the sitting President and further, in deviously disguising before the Filipinos the constitutional anomaly that is EDSA 2.

Anti-Estrada Propaganda

The 'Estrada is Guilty' and 'long live EDSA 2!' propaganda campaigns participated in by most of the Philippine media actually began months prior to January 2001 during the drive to depose President Estrada. In what has been later exposed to be a well-orchestrated scheme by elitist elements that included the camp of then Vice-President Arroyo and former President Fidel Ramos, the local broadcast and print media played an instrumental role in demonizing Estrada and generating some public support for his ouster. Soon after Estrada decided to leave Malacanang to avoid any possible confrontation with his followers, the largest television stations, GMA-7 and ABS-CBN, ran for several weeks their 'victory' footages of the four-day revolution, acclaiming it as supposedly a victory for democracy in the land.


In contrast, the foreign media were in general agreement in their critical coverage of EDSA 2, describing the event as a power grab instead of as transition enabled by "People Power." Phil Bowring of the International Herald Tribune decried the impeachment walkout and the revolt, saying that "far from being a victory for democracy that is being claimed by leaders of the Anti-Estrada Movement such as Jaime Sin, the evolution of events has been a defeat for due process.” Time Magazine, in its February 19, 2001 issue, saw how “People power 2 was swift justice indeed--as in a lynching, it repudiated the very essence of due process enshrined in the constitution.”

Even foreign politicians and analysts shared the criticism of EDSA 2. Then Singapore Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew was quoted by The Straits Times on how he viewed "the change of power in the Philippines [as being] no boost for democracy because it was done outside the constitution." Wikipedia also quotes Hong Kong-based political analyst William Overholt who referred to EDSA 2 as "mob rule or mob rule as a cover for a well-planned coup."

In contrast to what the local media wanted the Filipinos to believe, EDSA 2 was no real showcase of "People Power" but rather, the fruition of a sophisticated and complex power grab conspiracy. Part of the planning and execution of the coup-in-disguise included the exercise of subtle psychological warfare by a major general who is a veteran in this game. In the midst of the Estrada impeachment, his predecessor Fidel Ramos--himself beleaguered by corruption charges--marched on the streets of EDSA in a move that seemed to (successfully) beckon the people to protest and follow suit.

People Power II Myths

Contrary to the lying claim propagated by the Arroyo administration and EDSA 2 stalwarts though media propaganda, the unseating of Estrada did not come about because of a well-intentioned, spontaneous popular revolt. An interview conducted by renowned author Nick Joaquin and which first appeared in the Philippine Graphic revealed that a power grab from Estrada had been planned long before the impeachment and that two of the key putschists were no other than Gloria Arroyo and her husband Mike Arroyo. With or without a popular component, the overthrow of the President with the highest plurality vote in history would have pushed through.

The defection of the military's top brass was the focus of the putschists' Plan A. This priority plan was what brought in the campaign to bring people to EDSA through media propaganda and centralized invitation by cellular texting. Arroyo's camp managed to convince then Chief-of-Staff Angelo Reyes to join, but on the condition that there will be a million-strong crowd in the streets of EDSA to help convince the service commanders to join.

Arroyo and Singson's camp also had a Plan B that included having elements of the military strike the initial blow by withdrawing from the government, to be followed by other groups such as the Philippine Military Academy graduates from Class '71, Class '72, etc. Moreover, they had a bloody "back-up strike force" given the orders to shoot against every place in Metro Manila and the provinces where Estrada forces will resist. It is herein seen that the unseen hand that directed the propaganda and political machinations against Estrada had a heartless determination to grab power. For all the illusions of the EDSA 2 people, it has become apparent that they had simply served as pawn to overthrow a very popularly elected leader. Worse, the EDSA "People Power" principle of a peaceful revolutionary change in government was in no way a consideration for the elitist elements who never respected the millions of masa (lower-class) votes received by Estrada.

Concededly, though, idealistic elements were present in the civilian support of EDSA 2. No less than members of the youth and the academic community lend some dignity to the rebellious occasion. It is even safe to state that the country's premiere university, the University of the Philippines, attended in majority force. It is just so sad that for all their intelligence and patriotic aspirations, the more honorable of the EDSA 2 civilians had been, well, had. Conned by political opportunists and elitist elements who envision democracy to work according to their convenience, they prejudged Estrada as guilty without the benefit of a fair and complete trial. The seemingly possessed EDSA 2 mob then dropped half their principles and acted in a Machiavellian fashion to taunt, jeer and malign Estrada. The climax came rather swiftly as the threat of the lynching mob--foolhardily ignorant of the putschists' machinations--was conveniently used to negotiate Estrada's departure from Malacanang. Aided by the seditious "party" animal, then Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide, and failing to smell the odor of the wicked wolf in their midst, the pathetically jubilant mob then foolishly handed the Presidency to Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in a silver but tainted platter.

Revolution towards Greater Hunger and Corruption

It is most ironic that the 'Oust Estrada' campaign rode on the wings of anti-corruption and moral recovery promises but ended up driving the country into probably unprecedented post-war levels of misery, a corruption and immorality.



2007 was particularly a year of ignominy for Arroyo on several counts. Despite her proud but dubious claims of steering the country into economic stability, a Social Weather Station survey study shows that the level of total hunger hit its highest last year--the second time in her administration. Another 2007 survey, this time by Pulse Asia, betrays how Filipinos consider themselves and their countrymen worse off now than some years back ago.

It is in the area of morality, however, that Gloria Arroyo received the worst disgrace of her political life. The October 2007 Pulse Asia nationwide survey on corruption revealed how Filipinos view her as the "Most Corrupt President in Philippine History." The survey results prove particularly embarrassing not only for Arroyo but, perhaps, also for those responsible for her unconstitutional ascent into the Presidency because she even beat Guinness-holder Ferdinand Marcos for the inglorious title. Estrada, who has faced the politically-suspect Plunder charges and seven years of consistent demonizing by the Arroyo administration and elitist camps, placed only third in the list. What had made Gloria Arroyo top the "Most Corrupt" list is nothing else but a long litany of corruption issues that began soon after the EDSA 2 "People Power" gave her the reigns of illicit power.

Mea culpa

A number of personalities and participants of EDSA 2 have already admitted to the mistake, nay stupidity(?), of the Estrada ouster. Prominent among them is former President Corazon Aquino. While admission and penance may not necessarily bring back the constitutional order of the government, nor undo the defamation of Estrada, nor perhaps the lives of those who died by hunger or poverty-related suicide due to corruption of public funds, nor return the lost honor of the Supreme Court, it is a step in right direction. The zeal for change may sometimes override sobriety and foresight, and lead people to stupid decisions. Let EDSA 2, then, be a bitter blunder to rectify because otherwise, the nation as a whole will suffer worse.

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