Call for Estrada exit as trial begins

By Amit Baruah

SINGAPORE, DEC. 7. The impeachment trial of the Philippines President, Mr. Joseph Estrada, began in the country's Senate this afternoon as thousands of protesters demanded his resignation.

Mr. Estrada, whose supporters also demonstrated outside the Senate, is reported to be the first Asian head of State to face an impeachment trial. The President is charged with bribery, corruption and violation of the Constitution.

Opening the trial, Mr. Sergio Aposol, appearing as prosecutor, said that Mr. Estrada had ``violated the law not once, not twice, but regularly like clockwork''.

As Filipinos and other Southeast Asians watch the unfolding trial, there are suggestions that the President may just be able to hang on to power.

As per the schedule that has been agreed to, the entire trial process is likely to last till the middle of January.

The prosecution alleged that a criminal syndicate was present in the President's office. ``This is the gangland mob that threatens to rule us... this is the mob rule that will savage our Constitution and the very fabric of our society unless we destroy it now before it destroys us,'' Mr. Aposol claimed.

``After we are through with our evidence, we have no doubt that your honours will render a judgment of conviction,'' the prosecutor told the 22-member Senate, which is sitting as a tribunal for the impeachment process.

Outside the Senate, the Vice-President, Ms. Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo, the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Jaime Sin, and the former President, Ms. Corazon Aquino, called for the resignation of the President. In case Mr. Estrada goes, Ms. Arroyo will step into the President's shoes, whose six-year term expires only in 2004.

``Resignation is a brave act. Only brave men do that... we are inviting you to make the supreme sacrifice for the good of the country. Mr. President, do not be afraid to step down,'' Cardinal Sin told an open-air mass.

Ms. Aquino, in turn, said: ``Let us remind the accused that there is a kinder, fairer, more expedient solution to this crisis... the option of resignation. A caring President - a President who cares about his people more than he cares about himself - would not have put his nation through this agonising and potentially divisive crisis.''

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Section  : International
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