Estradas Impeachment

And the Second People Power

The Philippine Daily Inquirer Ads Pullout

The Manila Times Controversy
BW Resources Scandal
Philippine-Taiwan Air Agreement
Controversy
Midnight Cabinet
Estrada Mistresses
Hot Cars Scandal

Controversies of the Estrada

Administration

Estrada was reported by his Chief of Staff

Aprodicio Laquian to have allegedly spent
long hours drinking with shady characters
as well as "midnight drinking sessions"
with some of his cabinet members during
meetings.

The Midnight Cabinet

Luis 'Chavit' Singson - Governor of Ilocos Sur

Luis 'Baby' Asistio - Representative of Caloocan City
Dante Tan - Head of the BW Resources Corp.
Ramon Lee - A close associate of Dante Tan and an Estrada election
contributor
Lucio Co - The goateed owner of PureGold duty free stores who was
recently accused of being a big-time smuggler
Jaime Dichavez - A fiberglass manufacturer and real estate developer who
was recently involved in the corporate coup at Belle Corporation, operator
of the controversial jai-alai games
William Gatchalian - Presidential adviser on overseas Filipinos
Eusebio Tanco - Acquired the Tiwi-Makiling-Banahaw geothermal power
plant from the National Power Corporation. Tanco is the brother-in-law of
one of the country's biggest coconut millers, Douglas Lu Ym
Jacinto "Jack" Ng - Multimillionaire, owner of Republic Biscuit Corp. or
Rebisco and of some hefty real estate
Mark Jimenez - a shadowy businessman wanted for illegal campaign
contributions in the U.S. Jimenez is reportedly a mean singer at the
karaoke and is an occasional "good time" associate of Estrada

Midnight Cabinet - Members

In October 2000, Luis "Chavit" Singson,

alleged that he had personally given
Estrada P400 million as payoff from
jueteng hidden in a bank account known
as "Jose Velarde" a grassroots-based
numbers game, as well as P180 million
from the government price subsidy for the
tobacco farmers' marketing cooperative

Juetenggate Scandal

From Manila Cardinal Archbishop Jaime Sin, the Catholic Bishops

Conference of the Philippines, former Presidents Corazon
Aquino and Fidel Ramos, and Vice President Gloria MacapagalArroyo (who had resigned her cabinet position of Secretary of
the Department of Social Welfare and Development).
Cardinal Sin : "In the light of the scandals that besmirched the
image of presidency, in the last two years, we stand by our
conviction that he has lost the moral authority to govern.
More resignations came from Estrada's cabinet and economic
advisers, and other members of congress defected from his ruling
party.
Singson's allegation caused controversy across the nation, which
culminated in the House of Representatives' filing of an
impeachment case against Estrada on November 13, 2000.

Calls for Resignation

Presiding officer: Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr.

The trial started on Dec. 7, 2000, and ended on Jan. 16, 2001.
11 Number of prosecutors led by then House Minority Leader
Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
6 Members of the defense team headed by former Chief Justice
Andres Narvasa.
22 Number of senator-judges.
30+ Number of witnesses presented during the impeachment
trial.
Plea: Not Guilty
4 grounds for impeachment: bribery, graft and corruption,
betrayal of public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution.
This was the first time the Filipino public witnessed, through radio
and television, an elected president stand in trial and face
possible impeachment with full media coverage

Impeachment Fast Facts

P10 M Amount allegedly received monthly by Estrada

from November 1998 to August 2000 from jueteng
lords as protection money
P130 M Amount of kickbacks allegedly given to
Estrada from the P200 million released by then
Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for tobacco
farmers.
P100 M Amount of donation from government funds
allegedly received by a private organization organized
by Estradas wife.
52 Number of impounded luxury vehicles that Estrada
allegedly ordered the customs commissioner to turn
over to Malacaang for distribution to Cabinet
secretaries and other senior officials.

Charges Against Estrada

Clarissa Ocampo, senior vice president ofEquitable PCI

Bank, testified that she was one foot away from Estrada
when he signed the name "Jose Velarde" documents
involving a P500 million investment agreement with their
bank in February 2000.
On January 17, 2001, the impeachment trial of President
Estrada moved to the investigation of an envelope
containing crucial evidence that would allegedly prove acts
of political corruption by Estrada.
Senate Majority Floor Leader Francisco Tatad requested to
the Impeachment court to make a vote for opening the
second envelope.
The vote resulted in 10 senators in favor of examining the
evidence, and 11 senators in favor of suppressing it.

Jose Velarde Account

The mnemonic given to the 11 senators who voted

against the opening of the envelope.
J-aworski, Robert
O-ple, Blas
E-nrile, Juan Ponce
S-otto, Vicente Tito III
C-oseteng, Anna Dominique Nikki
O-smea, John Henry
H-onasan, Gregorio Gringo
O-reta, Teressa Tessie Aquino
R-evilla, Ramon
T-atad, Franciso Kit
S-antiago, Miriam Defensor

JOES COHORTS

After the vote, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. resigned as Senate

President and walked out of the impeachment proceedings
together with the 9 opposition Senators and 11 prosecutors in the
Estrada impeachment trial.
Estrada: I was not given due process. My impeachment trial was
cut short when the prosecutors walked out after the senators
voted not to open the second envelope which they suspected to
contain incriminating evidence against me. Presiding Officer
Hilario Davide should have ordered them to return and finish the
trial or he should have dismissed the case against me for failure
to prosecute. He did no such thing. When the second envelope
was opened later, it did not contain any evidence against me at
all.
When the envelope was later opened, it revealed that Jaime
Dichavez and not Joseph Estrada owned the Jose Velarde
Account.

Forfeiture of the Trial

That night, anti-Estrada protesters gathered in

front of the EDSA Shrine at Epifanio de los
Santos Avenue, not too far away from the site of
the 1986 People Power Revolution that overthrew
Ferdinand Marcos.
The protests lasted for 3 days.
On January 19, 2001, Armed Forces of the
Philippines Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes, seeing
the political upheaval throughout the country,
"decided to withdraw his support" from the
president and transfer his allegiance to the vice
president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

EDSA II

On January 20, 2001, the Supreme Court

declared that the seat of presidency was vacant,
saying that Estrada had constructively resigned
his post. At noon, the Chief Justice swore in
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president of the
Philippines.
According to Estrada he had strong and serious
doubts about the legality and constitutionality of
[Arroyos] proclamation as President and that he
decided to leave Malacaang for the sake of
peace and in order to begin the healing process
of our nation.
The welfare of the people is the supreme law
SC

Resignation

I was ousted from Malacaang not by the

impeachment court but by a mob.
EDSA II was described by foreign commentators
as ''a defeat for due process,'' as ''mob rule,'' as
''a de facto coup.''
It was seen as an elitist backlash against a
president who had overwhelmingly been elected
by the poor.
''It is either being called mob rule or mob rule as
a cover for a well-planned coup,'' said William
Overholt, a Hong Kong-based political economist
with long experience in the Philippines. ''But
either way, it's not democracy.''

A Questioned Democracy

"The 1987 Constitution suffered. 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 parliament of the streets. The rule
of law was set aside and the rule of force
prevailed, said Cecila-Muoz Palma
Estradas Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP)
described EDSA II as a "power grab that
deprived (former) President Estrada of the
presidential mandate overwhelmingly given to
him by the Philippine electorate in the May 1998
presidential elections."

A Questioned Democracy

''People Power is not a club to be wielded by the elite or by

any faction. It is a mysterious, unpredictable outpouring of
collective energy that seems to arrive when we most need
it. That last sentence will seem like mysticism to most
foreigners, but a Filipino will know it is true.''
Philippine officials and commentators elaborated that
democratic institutions in the Philippines are not
functioning as they should, requiring periodic course
corrections from a vigilant public.
Corruption and patronage still pervert the courts, the
legislature and the presidency. Mass action by the people is
the truest form of democracy.
''Democracy is a work in progress,'' said Paulynn Sicam,
editor of Cyber Dyaryo, an internet magazine.

A Questioned Democracy

The new government created a special court, charged him

with plunder, and had him arrested in April.
A bloody struggle between protesters who wish to oust
Arroyo and reinstate Estrada, and the police resulted to
what was called as EDSA III
Some of Eraps co-accused are , Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada,
Charlie "Atong" Tiu Hay Sy Ang, Edward S. Serapio,
Yolanda T. Ricaforte, and Alfaro
Erap was found guilty of plunder while his co-accused were
acquitted. He was given a penalty of reclusion perpetua.
Estrada became the first Philippine president to be
impeached and later be convicted.

Arrest and Trial

On October 25, 2007, President Gloria

Macapagal-Arroyo granted executive
clemency to Joseph Estrada

Pardon and Release from

Detention

Estrada believes that his downfall was

conspired by what he called the elites of
the society. Some of these elites who plotted
the EDSA Revolution of 2001 are as follows:
The Lopez Family
Cardinal Sin
Lucio Tan
Fidel Ramos
Chavit Singson
The Ayala Clan

Afterthoughts on EDSA II

The church issued a public apology for its pivotal

role in installing then Vice President Gloria
Arroyo to the presidency in a 2001 militarybacked revolt that ousted popularly elected
President Joseph Estrada.
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) president and Iloilo Archbishop Angel
Lagdameo expressed disappointment in Mrs.
Arroyo, saying which has become known as Edsa
II, which happened between Jan. 17 and 21 in
2001 installed a president who is now being
adjudged in surveys as the countrys most
corrupt leader.

Afterthoughts on EDSA II

When Estrada was released he gave a

message to the Filipino people that he can
once again help the lives of the people,
especially the poor.
2010 Elections He ran again for president
but lost to Benigno Simeon Noynoy Aquino,
III
2013 Elections He will run for mayor of
Manila
"I am still strong, and I will not stop serving
the people until the end."

Return to Politics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Joseph_Estrada
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EDSA_Revolution_of_2001
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Joseph_Estrada
Calica, Aurea. 2001. SC: Peoples welfare is the supreme
law. Philstar.
Mydans, Seth. 2001. People Power II Doesnt Give the
Filipinos the Same Glow. The New York Times
2008. Eraps PMP questions EDSA 2 Constitutionality.
gmanetwork.com
Infante, Ayen. 2008. Edsa 2 a mistakes, says CBCP head.
2012. The Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Cruz, Neal H. 2012. Estrada talks about his impeachment
trial. The Philippine Daily Inquirer
Gutierrez, Jason. 2012. Joseph Estrada dafiantly returns
to politics. ABS-CBN News

Sources