oseph Estrada has
said he has no intention of running for president in 2010. That should put end
to all this talk about Es- trada running to "vindicate" himself. But it won’t,
given the distortions our political structures and processes have gone through
since his ouster in 2001.
The elite and civil society groups must be despairing at the
prospects of Estrada going back to the Palace. They had demonized him as a lazy
bones, drunkard, an inveterate gambler and a womanizer. He won the presidency in
1998 nonetheless. He would later be accused of being a thief and haled before
Congress for impeachment. Before the process could be completed, Estrada was
thrown out by a military-backed people’s revolt. His vice president, Gloria
Arroyo, took over and the nation has yet to recover from the effects of
short-circuiting the Constitution.
Estrada was found guilty of plunder by the Sandigan. He
decided to forego an appeal and was granted pardon by Arroyo. His conviction
ordinarily would have sent him into a political limbo. As things stand,
Estrada’s political star is gaining ascendance. He could indeed be a formidable
presidential candidate in 2010, with a lock on an estimated 35 percent of the
vote.
Suddenly from the left field, the camp of Fidel Ramos said he
might as well run in 2010 to stop a possible Erap victory. Estrada versus Ramos?
What’s this, a contest between BW Resources and the Centennial Expo for the
title of being the worst scam ever perpetrated?
It could make a grownup man weep.
Ramos himself should be the last person to offer himself as
the nation’s savior. He was a crucial prop in the continued stay in power of
Gloria. At the height of the "Hello Garci" scandal, Gloria would have been
toasted had Ramos not pulled her out from the fire. Same in later occasions when
Gloria’s continued rule had been in doubt.
All the while Arroyo is waiting in the wings to pull off her
own surprise. An Estrada-Ramos match could well trigger a "golpe" by Arroyo and
her cabal of generals. She is just waiting for a casus belli to declare war on
the constitutional order and she will get it if the 2010 elections turn out to
be a contest between Estrada’s tinsel glamor and Ramos’ psy-war expertise.
In truth, we don’t put too much weight to the noises coming
from the Estrada and Ramos camps. They know – or ought to know – 2010 marks the
transition to a new generation of leaders. Whatever their faults, Estrada and
Ramos have a demonstrated respect for the Constitution and democratic processes.
They pose no danger to the nation. It’s Gloria, with her greed for power, we
should be worried about.
