Why I am Voting Joseph "Erap" Estrada

Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada, the 13th President of the Philippine Republic. So unceremoniously deposed by the conspiracy of political opportunists, unpatriotic businessmen, misenlightened Church prelates, seditious military elements and stupid gullible mob during the January 2001 EDSA 2 "People  Power" coup.

Why vote for him in his renewed bid for the presidency  this coming May 10, 2010 elections? There are several very good historical, moral and practical reasons why I support him. In this evolving post in the countdown to election day, I explain my vote.

1. Erap is a Nationalist.

In September 2009 speech, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile took to the Senate floor  in defense of the former President against the tirades of now-Senator-on-the-run-for-murder-raps Panfilo Lacson. In his  characterization of Estrada as a matter of personal privilege, he recounted the struggle of the nationalists, Estrada well included, in moving to terminate the protracted RP-US Military Bases Agreement.

Enrile describes Estrada as someone who has "proved to be a true nationalist," being part of the eleven other Senators who dared vote for the abrogation of the Bases Agreement. This came despite the strong lobbying done by the pro-Bases advocates, led by no less than President Corazon C. Aquino. The pro-Bases forces tried to push for the extension of United States military presence in the country, some 92 years after the Americans colonized the land and over four decades after the Bases Agreement was first forged. Estrada and the other anti-Bases senators were denounced as the "The Dirty Dozen" by those who had no sense to assert Filipino sovereignty; on the other, the progressive nationalist groups hailed them as "The Magnificent Twelve."

On April 19, 1988 during his 51st birthday, then-Sen. Joseph Estrada delivered his privilege speech for the abrogation of the U.S. Bases Agreement. Erap's words can still remembered for its stirring and clarion call for the nation to muster its will and courage to assert its independence and take on the path of self-sufficiency:

Let this be our finest hour as we face the judgment of history. We have become so dependent on the Americans that we have not learned to be self-sufficient. Our country has been seen as a nation of beggars, a nation of prostitutes, a nation of cheaters, a nation of domestic helpers. And if we do not assert ourselves today, we will also be known as a nation of cowards. This I cannot accept and this, we must not accept.

The role of the 12 Anti-Bases senators in heeding the sovereign call for real Philippine independence free of the military presence of its former colonizers cannot be discounted. Prior to his vote, Erap even did his laudable part in the propaganda campaign to bring the issue to a people long bathed in colonial conditioning with the movie he produced himself, "Sa Kuko ng Agila. " Co-starring former Sen. Nikki Coseteng,  the movie took potshots at the American bases in anticipation of its scheduled expiration in 1991.

Estrada stars in "Sa Kuko ng Agila"

Estrada  obviously did not do the abrogation of the neo-colonial treaty himself. Even prior to the "Magnificent 12" senators, the likes of Claro M. Recto came before in the decades-long campaign against what was then the greatest symbol and tool of continuing neo-imperialist US influence in the country. However, Estrada's use of popular cinema--with his craft, charm and connection with the masses--undoubtedly proved an effectively tool that helped crystallize the cause of Anti-Bases movement in the masses' mind and ready the Filipinos for the historic change the true patriots and nationalists have long been aspiring and working for.

(To be continued....)

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References

Enrile, Juan Ponce. Enrile defends Estrada. 22 September 2009. Ellen Tordesillas Blog. http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=7336

Erap's Famous Speech on U.S. Bases Philippines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXXw_cRzhYo

POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA

Video on the infamous power grab in recent Philippine history.

The victim: the democratically elected President Joseph "Erap" Estrada.

The conspirators: Bogus President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and husband; Mike Arroyo; ex-President Fidel Ramos; Jaime Cardinal Sin; business elites; Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes, Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide, etc.

The unwitting conspirators: the gullible mob of Edsa 2.

The greater victims: Philippine democracy and the millions who cast their votes in the 1998 Presidential elections.

According to the Honorable Cecilia Munoz-Palma, 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..

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Source:

Youtube. Power Grab from President Joseph Estrada. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9bECSgfqk


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The Truth behind the Philippine Presidency and the 2004 Elections

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is seen by the Filipino masses as a bogus, evil leader who has "stolen the Presidency not once, but twice." The first time has to do with her role in unconstitutionally unseating the majority elected Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada in the 2001 Edsa 2, a power grab disguised as a "People Power" uprising.

The second time Arroyo stole the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation was during the 2004 Presidential elections wherein she was supposed to have beaten opposition standard bearer and Estrada's friend, Fernando Poe Jr. The "victory" that led to the highly irregular earlier than 'break-of-dawn' inauguration of Arroyo was heavily tainted with allegations of systematic cheating that involved the Commissions on Elections, the military, business leaders who headed the NAMFREL "citizen's arm" electoral watchdog and administration Congressmen and Senators who covered up the electoral fraud during the congressional canvassing.

2004 Poll Fraud and 'Hello Garci'

The opposition's charges of poll cheating would be later be backed up by the so-called "Hello Garci" tapes that reveal the wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and an elections commissioner assigned to the contested region of Mindanao. Despite
convincing proofs, however, the big businesses, the Catholic Church and the Philippine media helped sustain the cover-up of the fraudulent win of Arroyo in the 2004 polls.

The recent falling out between Gloria Arroyo and a protracted staunch ally, deposed House Speaker Jose de Venecia, over the anomalous NBN-ZTE telecommunications contract could just spell hope for the unraveling of the unholy conspiracy to cheat the Filipinos of their electoral choice for president. De Venecia has recently announced his plan to seek the reopening of the House investigations into the "Hello Garci" electoral controversy. As the Speaker and former Arroyo ally during the periods of the electoral canvassing and during the initial "Hello Garci" tapes investigation, De Venecia could certainly shed light on the mechanics of the conspiracy to rig the 2004 Presidential elections and cover up that trampling of the democratic process.

Hopes to Unravel and Rectify the Presidential Fraud

For seven years, the Philippines has been mired in the evil created by the hypocritical and undemocratic designs of the conspirators who simply preferred Arroyo over the choice of the majority class of society, the masses. It's about time that some truth is unraveled and perhaps, that the 2004 electoral cheating be officially rectified somehow.


"Hello Garci" taped conversation between Gloria Arroyo and COMELEC Dir. Garcillano, at 17:51, June 4, 2004:



Transcript of the conversation between Gary (V. Garcillano) and GMA (Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) on 08 17:51, hotel June ’04
Garcillano: Hello.
GMA: Hello, Garci? Anong gagawin natin dun sa NAMFREL presscon, yung NAMFREL Lanao del Sur.
Garcillano: Ah, inaano ko. Meron na ho akong kopya ng ifinax ni Nobong, yung kay Dalidig. But that is not true because I have already here my staff whom I assigned Lanao Sur. Pagkatapos ho si Rey Sumalipao the supervisor is coming and then we will also try to make him say something after this.
GMA: Uhm-um.
Garcillano: Pagsasalitahin ko sila ho without letting people know that I am the one who will address it ho. Ganun lang po, sige po ma’am.
GMA: Ok, ok

Source: Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

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Recommended related articles:

Arroyo, "Hello Garci" and the Anniversary of Her Bogus Presidency

Exposé: Philippine commandos reveal ER tampering & switching to fabricate Arroyo's 2004 victory

A homage to Samuel Ong, hero of the 'Hello Garci' expose

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Filipinos Welcome Estrada Pardon, Maintain Reservations About Arroyo

Majority of Filipinos welcomed the long-awaited release of ex-President Joseph Estrada following the clemency extended to the former leader accused of politically motivated trumped-up charges. Estrada was convicted of Plunder and racketing charges by a 'kangaroo' court division of an Anti-Graft body specially created to try the former President following the conspiracy-led uprising unseated him in 2001.



The pardon was given by current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nearly after the six-year trial ended in a guilty verdict during a heavily-censored promulgation in September 2007. During the media coverage of the promulgation, the authorities made sure that the public would not see the dramatic moment when Estrada, who remains heavily popular with the Filipinos masses, received the "guilty" verdict.

Never Guilty

Earlier, a nationwide survey showed that an overwhelming majority of Filipinos believe Estrada is innocent of the Plunder charges and that they expected him to be released. The same survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) also revealed the sentiment of the Filipinos that in case he be declared guilty, Estrada should be pardoned. According to the survey 62% of Filipinos do not believe "Erap" Estrada enriched himself nor committed corruption while he was President; a total of 84% think he should be pardoned if convicted. The SWS, the most active social survey institute in the country, conducted the survey just before the promulgation of the Sandiganbayan decision declaring Estrada guilty of the charges.

Supporters of the former Philippine leader are delighted to see him free again but have reservations about the nature of the pardon and the administration of Arroyo. Estrada and the opposition have long maintained the illegitimacy of Arroyo's administration after the constitutionally questionable decision by the Supreme Court that declared the position of President vacant and Arroyo as the successor. In 2004, Macapagal-Arroyo 'won' in the presidential elections heavily tainted with allegations of electoral fraud. In legal terms, Estrada's acceptance of the executive clemency connotes recognition of the authority of Arroyo. According to Estrada's followers, they want him free but still consider Arroyo's administration as illegitimate.

Filipinos generally believe that Estrada, a former actor who rose from being a mayor, senator and Vice-President before becoming President with the highest plurality vote in Philippine history, is not guilty of any of the charges. Before his arrest and detention, Estrada declined two offers made by the administration of Macapagal-Arroyo for him to live in voluntary exile in exchange for waiving criminal prosecution.

Estrada won as the Philippine's 13th President by a landslide election in 1998 but was unable to finish term after a corrupt governor accused him of pocketing jueteng kickbacks. The accusations mothballed into the so-called EDSA II rebellion backed by the Army's chief-of-staff. Majority of Filipinos believe that Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos and then Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, led the conspiracy that used the kickback issue as a propaganda ploy to bring Estrada into public disfavor.

Objective political analysts suspect that Ramos sought to depose Estrada to avoid prosecution for the scandalous deals his administration entered into. Ramos was named in several multi-million dollar corruption exposes during his term, including the infamous Clark Centennial Exposition project and the PEA-AMARI Manila Bay Reclamation deal, dubbed to be the "grandmother of all scams." Estrada, who assumed office with bankrupt national treasury funds, had threatened to investigate Ramos' complicity in the scams.

The 2001 EDSA II rebellion against the defamed former President acquired the backing of certain business leaders who were disadvantaged by Estrada's pro-poor policies. The Catholic Church led by the powerful Jaime Cardinal Sin also played a part in Estrada's unseating. The politically meddling Cardinal Sin saw a Catholic ally in the successor, Macapagal Arroyo. Despite numerous and persistent allegations of corruption and electoral fraud against the new administration, the Catholic Church continued to support Arroyo, who indeed proved to be a faithful supporter of the Church's positions on various social issues including family planning and the death penalty.

Link to the SWS survey September 2-5, 2007 Social Weather Survey: Majority expected Erap to be acquitted: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr070912.htm.

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