Estrada’s Still Free to Act on His Politics

Here at Camp Capinpin, mountain base of the Philippine army’s jungle-fighting 2nd Infantry Division, ousted President Joseph Estrada is imprisoned in a small, two-bedroom house surrounded by razor wire and armed guards.

The former film superstar, who contends that he is still the Philippines’ lawful president, has been in detention for nearly three years as his trial on charges of plunder and perjury plods along with no end in sight.

Now, as the May 10 presidential election nears, Estrada, 66, is not on the ballot, but his hefty frame is casting a large shadow over the campaign.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the vice president who took over after Estrada was ousted by a military-backed popular uprising, faces a strong challenge from Estrada’s good friend and fellow actor, Fernando Poe Jr.

A triumph by Arroyo would give her the legitimacy she has lacked in some quarters since the Supreme Court declared her president in January 2001.

A victory by Poe, meanwhile, would offer Estrada the best chance of winning his freedom. The former leader is doing all he can to rally support for Poe.

“I am still the legitimate president,” Estrada said in an interview. “This is not a democracy now.”

The combative Arroyo and the soft-spoken Poe are running neck and neck in a campaign that has highlighted personalities more than issues despite the huge problems facing the country. Three other candidates are in the race, including Sen. Panfilo Lacson, a former national police chief.

Under Arroyo’s leadership, the country has suffered continuing economic decline as foreign investment has plummeted and the national debt has soared. In March, the peso sank to a historic low against the dollar. Corruption is rife.

In the absence of effective birth-control programs, the Philippine population is expected to soar from 85 million to 100 million by 2010, adding to the burden of providing public services.

The government has not been able to suppress armed insurgencies by Islamic separatists and communist rebels or capture hundreds of Islamic terrorists and kidnappers in the south.

Arroyo, 57, a former senator whose father was president in the 1960s, has cast herself as a tireless public servant who is trying to bring down prices of consumer goods, provide healthcare for the poor and promote peace. She blames the nation’s economic problems on Estrada and says her administration has created 3 million jobs. If elected to a six-year term, she pledges, she will double the average annual per capita income to $2,000.

Opponents have accused Arroyo of abusing her position and using government resources to campaign. In recent weeks, the government has hired thousands of workers to clean the streets; they wear blue uniforms bearing her name. On the campaign trail, critics charge, Arroyo hands out government health cards entitling the holder to subsidized medical care.

The president says she is merely doing her job of helping the public. “I would rather go to jail than to stop serving the people,” she said last week. “Since when was public service an electoral offense?”

Poe’s low-key campaign style and vague political message are in stark contrast to Arroyo’s blunt, hard-driving approach.

Like Estrada in his race six years ago, Poe, 64, is banking on his celebrity and the persona he perfected in nearly 300 movies in which he played characters who fight injustice and protect the downtrodden.

“I’ve played almost all roles in my movies ... except being a president,” he told one audience last week. “I hope you’ll give me the chance to play this role.”

Poe, widely known as FPJ, has provided few clues about his plans as president. A man of few words in his movies, he has stayed in character on the campaign trail. In brief speeches to adoring fans, he offers vague hopes of change, often borrowing lines from his films.

“I promise you that no matter how difficult the task, even if it’s like going through the eye of the needle, I will do it for you,” he said last week in Manila to the cheers of 2,000 supporters. “We need a government that cares, because the present government does not have a heart for the poor.”

Estrada, who starred with Poe in several movies, was popular among the poor and won more votes than any presidential candidate had in two decades. He is accused of illegally pocketing millions of dollars while in office, but many of his supporters believe that he was the victim of a conspiracy by the rich and powerful.

In his campaign, Poe appears to be tapping into popular distrust of the government and the anger many voters harbor over the ouster of Estrada, who is known as Erap after one of his characters.

“Arroyo is not the president. Erap is the president of the Philippines,” said Linda Mendoza, 55, a shopkeeper in Manila. “I’m praying to the Lord that FPJ will be elected. He’s the chosen one.”

At the base two hours from Manila, Estrada sits at his dining room table, taking calls on his three cellphones and instructing supporters to carry out campaign tasks.

If his friend wins, Estrada says, he would not ask for a pardon -- only for a fair trial. To Estrada, that would mean reconstituting the panel of judges hearing his case and starting over with the trial.

Estrada contends his trial is rigged because the judges were picked by the court that declared Arroyo president. He is boycotting the proceedings, in which he is represented by a government-appointed attorney.

He recently produced a DVD titled “And the Truth Will Set You Free,” in which he proclaims his innocence and asserts that he was the victim of a plot by the business community, the Roman Catholic Church and the military. He hands out copies like candy to visitors.

As he watched the video’s footage of riot police beating his supporters, Estrada said he never resigned but instead surrendered the presidential palace to prevent more violence. “I left Malacanang Palace to avoid bloodshed,” he said.

He criticized a recent report from Transparency International, a global government-monitoring group, that ranked him 10th on a list of some of the world’s most corrupt leaders of the last 20 years.

“I never dreamed someday I would be here in prison,” he said. “I have been a superstar, a mayor, a senator, a vice president and president. All of a sudden, I went from president to prisoner.”