Word: estrada
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Despite his arrest on serious corruption charges, former Philippines president Joseph Estrada may yet elude prison - and not simply because of the merits or demerits of the case against him. Estrada, who was deposed in a constitutional coup in February and replaced by his vice president, Gloria Arroyo, was arrested Wednesday after police prevailed in scuffles with thousands of Estrada supporters gathered outside his home. Prosecutors allege that the former action-movie star, who campaigned for the presidency as a populist champion of the poor, had illegally amassed some $80 million during his presidency. The charge of economic plunder carries...
...Estrada has previously been charged with lesser corruption offenses since his ouster, but the latest charges are by far the most serious. Because they preclude bail, he'll be forced to await trial in prison, away from the political base that remains loyal to him and hostile to the business, religious and political elites that ousted him. He may take some solace in that the special anti-corruption court that will hear his case has a poor record of convictions on graft charges; it failed to convict former president Ferdinand Marcos, who was accused of abuses far more serious than...
...ladies and gentlemen, when O-Town (Ashley Parker Angel, Erik-Michael Estrada, Trevor Penick, Jacob Underwood and Dan Miller), the boyband of ABC-TV’s “Making the Band” infamy, arrived in Bean-Town, and this city would never be the same. Never before has this historical center of democracy borne witness to a musical outfit so devoid of singing ability, good looks, humility or even charm...
...Backed by Catholic and evangelical church groups, the President is crusading for a "moral recovery" after the two-year regime of Estrada, 63, an ex-film star who bragged about his fondness for women and booze. Live Show is the first victim in this crusade, and many newspapers are calling it censorship. And worries of a nationwide bowdlerization campaign were exacerbated by Macapagal-Arroyo's banning of a film she hadn't even seen. One columnist, the Manila Standard's Alex Magno, wrote: "We cannot allow that noble vision of a 'moral society' to be taken hostage by those...
...fuss? In the Philippines, yes. For most Filipinos, it's impossible to have a conversation without quoting a line from a Hollywood hit or a show tune, as if cinema were the grand sum of all the world's philosophy. Movies and politics are also melded together. Even with Estrada gone, movie stars still want to be politicians, and politicians yearn for their close up. The President copied her look and her camera poses from a doll-sized Filipina actress, Nora Aunor, whom she resembles...