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APRIL 21, 2000 VOL. 26 NO. 15 | SEARCH ASIAWEEK Unheard on the Street Despite dissent, Estrada still has mass support By ANTONIO LOPEZ Manila Leaders of the Silent Protest Movement against Joseph Ejercito Estrada wanted to sound off their anger. With a slanted exclamation point as their symbol, they demanded that the president reform - or resign. "Wake up at 6 a.m. and work from eight in the morning to eight in the evening and go to bed at 12 midnight, with only the First Lady beside [you]," urged Jose "Linggoy" Alcuaz, a real-estate businessman and a key leader of the movement. He and his co-convenors warned of a military takeover, a Palace coup, an assassination plot, an impeachment, and another People Power uprising. From April 7 to 9, they planned a mass protest of people tooting horns, pounding pots and pans, stomping and shouting.
"The noise barrage was a tactical error," admits Alcuaz. He blames his colleague, retired marketing man Ramon Binamira, for poor planning. The bigger reason is lack of support from big names like former presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos and Manila Cardinal Jaime Sin. Public support was also limited because the economy is still in good shape, and for many of the masses, the clash over cronyism is just a tussle among different factions of the rich. The protesters had hoped to capitalize on a slew of negative survey results over the past year (see table below). A Senate opposition stalwart, Teofisto Guingona, gave the protest a boost with an open letter urging Estrada to quit. "The nation is in disarray," wrote Guingona, president of the opposition Lakas-NUCD. "There exists no real vision, no sustained program, no genuine governance." He then urged: "It therefore pains me to humbly but resolutely ask you to resign." "The disarray is in your mind," retorted Estrada. To Guingona's list of national ills he replied with a litany of achievements: expected GDP and GNP growth of 4% and 5% for the first quarter, annualized; a 6.6% increase in agricultural output last year, the highest in two decades. A million jobs created as unemployment fell from 13.3% in 1998 to 11.8% in 1999. "Our fundamentals are strong, very strong," Estrada told the Asia Pacific Council of the American Chambers of Commerce. The resignation demand, he added, "I will ignore. It is part of the hollow acoustics of a bankrupt and leaderless opposition." Of persistent coup rumors, he remarked: "This is the way some people have fun. You must learn to treat rumor with humor." To calls for a change in his style of governance the president replied: "Management style is judged by only one criterion: results. Given the difficulties, results are what my government has been delivering." He added: "I have a right to be what I want to be and to be what I am. It is an act of arrogance for anyone to even suggest to me to be something else." Estrada can afford to take a tough stance largely because he still commands ample support among the lower-income segments, who make up the great majority of the nation. While his net approval rating among high-to-middle-income classes - A, B and C to consumer surveyors - has fallen to minus-6% nationwide, the president got a positive 24% figure from the D class, who comprise nearly two-thirds of the population. Among the E class, with 22% of Filipinos, his net approval rating is 31%. However, even these D and E ratings are much lower than they were a year ago. Last week Estrada made efforts to endear himself to the masses even more by visiting squatter districts near Manila, distributing low-cost homes and free medical service, and kissing babies. He also flew to Mindoro island to console families of six rural folk killed by drunken army soldiers. "My priority will always be the masses and I will use the powers of the presidency to improve their lot," the president vows. On the other hand, at least one statistic reflected some support from the wealthy: the stock market index is up 12.5% from its lowest level this year. "The storm is over," declares Senate Majority Leader Francisco Tatad of the aborted bid to build an anti-Estrada bandwagon. "The assault has failed to gather enough steam. The president is firmly in the saddle." The last time Tatad mouthed similar words in support of an incumbent, he was information minister in the Marcos regime. He and Estrada had better hope that history does not repeat itself. Write to Asiaweek at mail@web.asiaweek.com
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