Estrada's woes worsen

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, OCT. 14. A beleaguered Philippine President, Mr. Joseph Estrada, has denied plans to impose martial law or a state of emergency in the country as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines joined the growing clamour for his resignation.

Mr. Estrada, who finds himself on the backfoot, has been charged by a former buddy of his, Mr. Luis Singson, of accepting $ 8.6 millions in bribes from an illegal lottery known as ``jueteng''.

An increasingly desperate President announced today that the Government proposed to withdraw from all gambling games in a bid to shore up his position.

Denying that he accepted the bribe money, Mr. Estrada said in a statement: ``The people do not want the Government to be involved in gambling. The message is clear... we will stop all forms of gambling under the Government.''

For Mr. Estrada, it may be a case of too little, too late. The Vice-President, Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has quit in the wake of the scandal and the Catholic Church too is ranged against him.

Several opinion polls in the country, with one online poll sampling as many as 20,000 people, have overwhelmingly called for the resignation of the President.

The announcement that the Government would play no further role in gambling is part of a larger damage control effort. Public opinion in the country is appalled that a President could be at the centre-stage of such grave allegations.

``My conscience is clear... I am ready to face those who are attacking me. Let them bring their evidence to Congress. I am certain the truth will come out. I was wrong in thinking we could change the culture of gambling and the role of the Government. I was also wrong in choosing my friends,'' Mr. Estrada said.

The President's wife, Ms. Luisa Ejercito, who was not on talking terms with her husband until recently, has also been fielded in the defence of Mr. Estrada, who is increasingly looking lonely at the top.

For its part, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has said that the scandals involving Mr. Estrada in his 27 months as President were ``morally reprehensible''.

``We should pray together, reflect together, and act together to resolve the present problem resolutely and decisively by all the peaceful and legal means open to us, including presidential resignation if need be,'' the CBCP chief, Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, said on behalf of the organisation.

``The latest involvement is the most serious and places the Presidency in moral disarray... what we had feared all along - the involvement of top Government officials in widespread and rampant gambling - has finally been corroborated by one of the principal dramatis personae. We have no reason to doubt the revelations of Governor Singson,'' the Archbishop.

``No matter (what) his motivations (are), (Mr. Luis Singson) knows what he is speaking about. He has confessed his own responsibility. In the process, he has implicated the President,'' he added.

Earlier, the Archbishop of Manila, Jaime Cardinal Sin, had declared that Mr. Estrada had lost the moral authority to govern.

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Section  : International
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