Estrada Faces Impeachment as Congress Meets Today
November 13, 2000 - 0:0
MANILA Joseph Estrada appears almost certain to become the first Philippine president to be impeached when Congress starts debates today on charges he took bribes from gambling syndicates.
Barring last minute ploys or lengthy speeches by pro-administration lawmakers, the 218-member House of Representatives is expected to vote to impeach the former actor on Monday and send the case to the Senate for trial, which could begin later this month.
"I am ready to face any impeachment proceedings ... I am ready to face any trial in the Senate," Estrada, insisting on his innocence, said on the eve of the historic impeachment vote.
Passage of the impeachment resolution means the president is formally indicted.
The session is to begin at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) and congressman said debate on the motion could last for several hours.
Under the Philippine Constitution, only the Senate where the ranks of Estrada supporters have shrunk to precarious levels in the wake of the bribery scandal has the power to convict and remove a president from office.
"We will definitely pass the impeachment resolution on Monday ... before the day is over. You can have my word," said assistant House majority leader Francis Escudero, a member of Estrada's political coalition.
On Sunday, Estrada flew to northern Ilocos Norte, home province of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and told thousands of cheering supporters he was determined to finish his six-year term, which ends in 2004.
Occupying a stage alongside former first lady Imelda Marcos and two of the Marcos children one of whom is the provincial governor and the other a congresswoman Estrada said the charges against him were fomented by an elite who had never accepted him as president.
"I will prove (them) wrong," he said.
The beleaguered leader showed he still had massive drawing power when a crowd of over one million people jammed Manila's Rizal Park on Saturday in a prayer rally called in his support.
The show of force dwarfed a protest held by over 100,000 people in Manila a week earlier demanding he resign.
(Reuter)
Barring last minute ploys or lengthy speeches by pro-administration lawmakers, the 218-member House of Representatives is expected to vote to impeach the former actor on Monday and send the case to the Senate for trial, which could begin later this month.
"I am ready to face any impeachment proceedings ... I am ready to face any trial in the Senate," Estrada, insisting on his innocence, said on the eve of the historic impeachment vote.
Passage of the impeachment resolution means the president is formally indicted.
The session is to begin at 4 p.m. (0800 GMT) and congressman said debate on the motion could last for several hours.
Under the Philippine Constitution, only the Senate where the ranks of Estrada supporters have shrunk to precarious levels in the wake of the bribery scandal has the power to convict and remove a president from office.
"We will definitely pass the impeachment resolution on Monday ... before the day is over. You can have my word," said assistant House majority leader Francis Escudero, a member of Estrada's political coalition.
On Sunday, Estrada flew to northern Ilocos Norte, home province of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, and told thousands of cheering supporters he was determined to finish his six-year term, which ends in 2004.
Occupying a stage alongside former first lady Imelda Marcos and two of the Marcos children one of whom is the provincial governor and the other a congresswoman Estrada said the charges against him were fomented by an elite who had never accepted him as president.
"I will prove (them) wrong," he said.
The beleaguered leader showed he still had massive drawing power when a crowd of over one million people jammed Manila's Rizal Park on Saturday in a prayer rally called in his support.
The show of force dwarfed a protest held by over 100,000 people in Manila a week earlier demanding he resign.
(Reuter)