POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA

POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA:The Estrada presidency was soon dogged by charges of plunder and corruption, and he was reported by his Chief of Staff Aprodicio Laquian to spend long hours drinking with shady characters. In October 2000, an acknowledged gambling racketeer, Luis "Chavit" Singson, governor of the province of Ilocos Sur, alleged that he had personally given Estrada the sum of 400 million pesos as payoff from illegal gambling profits, as well as 180 million pesos from the government price subsidy for the tobacco famers' marketing cooperative. Singson's allegation caused an uproar across the nation, which culminated in Estrada's impeachment by the House of Representatives in November of 2000. He was the first Philippine President to be impeached. The articles of impeachment were then transmitted to the Senate and an impeachment court was formed, with Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr. as presiding officer.During the trial, the prosecution (composed of congressmen and private prosecutors) presented witnesses and evidence to the impeachment court regarding Estrada's involvement in illegal gambling, also known as jueteng, and his maintenance of secret bank accounts. However, the president's legal team (composed of a former chief justice, former congressman, former solicitor-general and other lawyers) was quick to deny these allegations and did its best to destroy the claims of the witnesses during cross-examination.[edit]EDSA II Revolution Main article: EDSA IIOn January 16, 2001, the impeachment court, whose majority were political allies of Estrada, voted not to open an envelope that was said to contain incriminating evidence against the president. The prosecution panel walked out of the impeachment court in protest of this vote. Others noted that the walkout merit court contempt which Davide, intentionally or unintentionally, did not enforce.That night, anti-Estrada protesters gathered on the historical EDSA highway at the site of the 1986 EDSA Revolution that overthrew Ferdinand Marcos. A political turmoil ensued and the clamor for Estrada's resignation became stronger than ever. In the following days, the number of protesters grew to the hundreds of thousands.On January 19, 2001, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, seeing the political upheaval throughout the country, decided to withdraw its support from the president and transfer its allegiance to the vice president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Without military support, and with mass resignations from his cabinet, Estrada's government quickly fell.On January 20, 2001, the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant and the Chief Justice swore in the constitutional successor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, as acting President of the Philippines. Estrada and his family were quickly evacuated from the presidential palace

Channel: News & Politics
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: DONOTS

Length: 09:00
Rating: 3.94
Views: 35049

Tags: arroyo  erap  estrada  gma  grab  joseph  philippines  president  

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