Philippine Saga Leaves Democracy in Lurch

One president of the Philippines lives in a palace, commands the armed forces and rules with the blessing of the Supreme Court.

The other president lives in a prison, faces the death penalty and can only wish that winning election was enough to stay in power.

On Thursday, the two presidents met for the first time in more than seven months when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo visited her deposed predecessor, Joseph Estrada, at the prison camp where he is being held on charges of plundering the country.

Arroyo was fresh from crushing a coup aimed at toppling her and, perhaps, returning Estrada to power. She said she visited Estrada as a “humanitarian gesture.” Television footage released by her office showed the two shaking hands and smiling.

“I am in total control,” she told foreign reporters afterward. “If they try again, we will defeat them again.”

Until recently, the Philippines was one of the stronger democracies in Southeast Asia. But two presidents is one too many when it comes to ensuring stability.

Some Filipinos worry that Arroyo’s takeover in January and the attempted coup by Estrada’s supporters this week signal that the nation’s top generals are taking a greater role in deciding who will run the country.

“The military appears to have replaced the political and judicial process as the final arbiters,” said Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a former armed forces chief of staff. “It is bad for democracy.”

Further, some question whether Arroyo followed the constitution when she took power and when she declared a “state of rebellion” Tuesday to combat the coup attempt.

On Thursday, Arroyo maintained that the Philippines has not strayed from the principles of democracy and that recent events “show the strength of our democratic institutions.”

“I have not gone outside the constitution,” she said. “I am the constitutional president. [The armed forces] support me because I have not lost moral ascendancy.”

Estrada, a former movie hero, was impeached by the House of Representatives in November for allegedly accepting suitcases full of cash from tax receipts and illegal gambling revenue. Allies in the Senate blocked key evidence from being used at his trial, triggering mass protests in the streets.

The demonstrations were similar to the “people power” rallies against President Ferdinand E. Marcos in 1986 that prompted the military to turn against him and force him from office.

In January, as the anti-Estrada protests swelled, disaffected military officers were on the verge of staging a coup. Estrada’s top generals learned of the plan and defected to Arroyo, his vice president, before any blood was shed.

The constitution gives Congress a role in deciding if the presidency is vacant, but it was not called upon to act. The Supreme Court quickly ruled without a hearing that the office was vacant, and Arroyo was sworn in as president.

“The Supreme Court has ruled already . . . and considered it democratic,” Arroyo said Thursday. “In fact it was succession according to the constitution. The power grab [by the coup plotters] was defeated, so I think it shows the strength of our democratic institutions.”

Estrada maintains that he never resigned and should still enjoy presidential immunity. Nevertheless, Arroyo’s government arrested him last week on charges that he plundered the country by stealing more than $80 million. If convicted, he could face death.

Estrada’s arrest touched off six days of protest. His supporters were especially angry that he was taken in like a common criminal, fingerprinted, photographed and given a tiny cell.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the same site where the anti-Marcos and anti-Estrada forces had staged their rallies. As before, the demonstrations provided cover to officers in the military who were plotting a change in power.

In the early hours Monday, Arroyo announced that she had uncovered a plot by Estrada’s backers to take power but that it had fizzled out. “I was hoping they would act so I could crush them,” she said.

The next day, she got her wish. Early Tuesday, as many as 40,000 Estrada supporters marched on Malacanang, the presidential palace, breaking through police lines and reaching the gates. At least six people were killed in the fighting.

According to the government, mutinous military units were to march on the palace and the jail where Estrada was being held. However, soldiers guarding the palace held their ground and Estrada was moved to another prison out of reach of the plotters. Arroyo, sometimes wearing a bulletproof vest, stayed in the palace protected by a special security squad.

Justice Minister Hernando Perez told reporters Thursday that the plotters planned to kill both Arroyo and Estrada and seize power. However, it was unclear on what Perez based the charge.

In response to the attack on the palace, Arroyo declared a “state of rebellion” Tuesday in the greater Manila area, yet another move that appears to circumvent the constitution. Her government ordered at least 11 people arrested, including a general who is running for the Senate in May 14 balloting and three senators who are seeking reelection.

Arroyo said the declaration allows the government to arrest the suspected rebels without warrants and hold them indefinitely.

According to the constitution, however, the existence of a rebellion is simply the basis for declaring a state of emergency or martial law, both of which must be approved by Congress. A “state of rebellion” does not in itself grant the president emergency powers, legal experts said.

“A state of rebellion has no basis in our constitution or our laws,” said Sen. Biazon, who during his military career led troops to defend then-President Corazon Aquino against seven coup attempts.

Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, one of the 11 named as coup plotters, charged at a news conference that the declaration was unconstitutional. Placing a .45-caliber pistol on the table in front of her, Santiago vowed that she would not go quietly.

“I will defend myself,” she said. “I will not obey their order to arrest me.”

So far, four of the 11 have been arrested, including Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who helped oust Marcos. Arroyo said she hoped to lift the “state of rebellion” order Monday.

Panfilo Lacson, who served as national police chief under Estrada and is now running for the Senate, also is among the 11. He said the state of rebellion helps Arroyo’s candidates while hurting the opposition in the coming election.

Calling in to a radio station Thursday on a mobile phone, Lacson said, “We have no martial law, but we have tyranny, the muzzling of people’s voices, of people’s rights.”

Arroyo said her visit to Estrada was not an attempt to smooth things over with the ousted president or his followers. Rather, she said, she wanted to make sure that he was comfortable.

Now locked up in a detention house at a maximum-security prison camp south of Manila, the capital, Estrada renewed his request for house arrest. But Arroyo declined, saying there is no provision for house arrest in Philippine law.

During their meeting, both called each other president and posed for photographs. “He was happy I visited him,” Arroyo recounted. “He said, ‘I think it’s a good thing our president visited us.’ ”

Arroyo said she agreed to provide him with another air conditioner, curtains for the barred windows and longer visiting hours for his family.

“I think as president I should be magnanimous and humanitarian,” she said. “I did it as part of my duties.”