Squeaker for Filipino Democracy

Just as when Filipinos toppled the corrupt regime of Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986, “people power” prevailed Saturday where politicians failed, ousting President Joseph Estrada. The collapse of Estrada’s government topped a year of wrenching political crisis, but it left constitutional institutions intact and that bodes well for the Philippines’ future.

The impeachment of Estrada on charges of bribery, graft and the betrayal of public trust came to a boil last week when his supporters in the Senate voted to exclude Estrada’s bank records from evidence, removing a key element of the prosecution’s criminal case. The prosecutor’s team resigned in protest, and hundreds of thousands of Filipinos poured into the streets of Manila to demand Estrada’s resignation.

He grudgingly left office Saturday after much of his Cabinet resigned and the army and police sided with the opposition. His successor, former Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is the sober opposite of Estrada. She faces immediate tough decisions, including whether Estrada should be criminally prosecuted.

Estrada, once a popular B-movie actor, started out in 1998 with the biggest popular mandate given to a Philippine president. The direction of his policies was pretty much determined by his predecessors, Corazon Aquino and Fidel V. Ramos, who did much to dismantle Marcos’ corrupt crony system and reform the flagging economy.

Estrada, himself a former Marcos crony, was a huge disappointment, especially for the poor who overwhelmingly voted for him. He failed to deliver on promises to tackle poverty, overhaul the tax system and rein in budget deficits. He fired professional advisors and replaced them with his drinking pals. But his friends and political allies deserted him when evidence of bribes and kickbacks mounted. He was officially charged with corruption last October and impeached a month later. Cronyism kept Estrada from being convicted in the Senate, but it couldn’t keep him in office.

It’s regrettable that his removal had to come from the streets, but the people’s bloodless uprising, backed by much of the government, civic and church leaders and the military, is still a victory for democracy in the Philippines. It should also serve as a warning to Estrada’s successors.