Rallies Seek Philippine Leader's Ouster
About 20,000 demonstrators marched on the presidential palace on Wednesday for a festive all-night protest to pressure Philippine President Joseph Estrada to quit, a week before he goes on trial before the Senate on corruption charges.
The demonstrators, occupying a street leading to the palace, clapped and cheered as they burned a 20-foot effigy of Estrada, who is accused of taking bribes from illegal gambling syndicates.
Police readied water cannons to remove protesters from streets "should they block traffic with their sit-down lightning strikes," said Manila police director Avelino Razon.
Pork and chicken adobo, prepared by residents and business groups, was spread on banana leaves on tables set up along the main thoroughfare in the capital's Makati business district.
Groups of laborers, farmers and office workers shared the food, some eating with their hands.
The protesters later marched to the presidential palace for another rally, carrying a giant effigy of the president as a monster.
"We will have a recession next year if we can't find a solution to this political problem," said leading industrialist Jose Concepcion.
"We are calling on Estrada to resign. He will save the nation from agony if he will immediately step down."
Estrada has refused to resign over allegations he received millions of dollars in payoffs from illegal gambling and kickbacks from tobacco taxes. He has repeatedly insisted he did not receive "even a centavo" from illegal gambling and is ready to face an impeachment trial.
On Tuesday, the Senate rejected a motion from Estrada's lawyers to dismiss impeachment charges on technical grounds and said it would begin a trial on Dec. 7.
Estrada's lawyers said a decision on whether he will testify hinges on the evidence presented by the prosecution.
"We expect him to testify if the need arises, there's no problem," said lawyer Estelito Mendoza, a former solicitor general. "We don't anticipate that need."
Many labor and business groups are demanding that Estrada resign quickly to prevent a lengthy impeachment trial that would prolong the country's political crisis and worsen its already ailing economy.
Thousands of police and military have been placed on alert in Manila and other cities this week for a series of anti-Estrada protests.
In a newspaper advertisement Wednesday, law school deans urged Estrada to stop attempting to delay the trial.
"If resignation is too radical a step for you to accept, the least we ask of you is for you to rein in your lawyers and tell them to cooperate in hastening the resolution of the substantive issues that are now before the Senate," they said.
Manila's influential Roman Catholic archbishop, Jaime Cardinal Sin, called for a Mass and march next week to rescue a "bleeding victim ... our beloved Philippines."
The accusations, made in early October by provincial governor and former Estrada frind Luis Singson, have set off the country's worst political crisis in more than a decade and prompted dozens of lawmakers to resign from his ruling LAMP party.
On Wednesday, Science and Technology Secretary Filemon Uriarte said he has decided to defer his resignation from the Cabinet to the end of December after much pleading from Estrada.
"My resignation has no connection to the scandal. I just want to go back to the private sector," said Uriarte, who had planned to leave Cabinet at the end of November.
Three other secretaries have resigned from the Cabinet since the crisis began.
In Makati, businessmen and stockbrokers joined farmers in a "people power lunch" of chicken and pork stew, made possible by donations.
The opposition has organised student walkouts, a "Dance till Erap Drops" disco, a mass exercise with popular athletes, and a race of mini four-wheel drives.
Erap, Estrada's nickname, is a Filipino word for "buddy" spelled backwards.