Philippine President Joseph Estrada spurned demands by tens of thousands of protesters yesterday that he resign over alleged illegal gambling payoffs and predicted he would survive the country's growing political and economic crisis.
A crowd estimated at 60,000 took to the streets and highway overpasses in Manila for a church-sponsored rally demanding Estrada resign.
PHOTO: AFP
"If he will not step down, the situation could worsen and he may have to step down with great embarrassment, humiliation and ignominy," said the country's most influential church leader, Roman Catholic Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Sin, the rally's sponsor.
Pressure on Estrada to resign has escalated rapidly as prominent lawmakers have deserted his LAMP party. More than 50 former LAMP congressmen have said they will support an impeachment complaint in the House of Representatives, virtually assuring enough votes to send it to the Senate for a trial.
Yesterday's rally was held at a shrine commemorating the site where hundreds of thousands of Filipinos gathered in 1986 for a peaceful "people's power" revolt that ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Participants crowded the shrine and three nearby highway overpasses and threw confetti from nearby buildings.
"Erap resign," they chanted, using Estrada's popular nickname.
While the color yellow symbolized the 1986 revolt, many participants in Saturday's rally wore white, representing their demand for a corruption-free government.
"It's like in the movies," Estrada told villagers. "The hero is always beaten up in the beginning, but in the end he wins."
Former President Corazon Aquino, who helped lead the "people's power" revolt, joined others in Saturday's rally in urging Estrada resign.
"History may treat you more kindly if you go peacefully and you go now," she said. "Even the best actor knows when it's time to take his final bow."
Also joining yesterday's rally was Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who heads an opposition coalition and is next in line for the presidency.
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