Word: estradas
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...official functions. Her frequent reminders that she's the first President to visit these towns?shrugging off two previous helicopter crashes and "risking my life" to be here?are self-congratulatory but also true. Her numerous opponents, many of whom supported the ouster of her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, cite her frequent sojourns out of Manila as evidence that she's already campaigning for the next election in 2004, which would be her first presidential race...
...almost two decades. Earlier this month, Sin released an ominous statement declaring the state of politics was "far from ideal"; it didn't directly point the finger at MalacaNang, but the seemingly calculated ambiguity allowed others to do so. The favorite charge is that she's no different from Estrada?or not different enough ("same dog with a different collar," says businessman Zobel, who predicts some kind of mass uprising before the summer is out). One of her first Cabinet nominations was a former general who was being investigated for corruption. Accusations against her husband?for steering government money...
...This isn't just the usual rumormongering. The stakes are frighteningly high. Another EDSA would be disastrous, no matter who took over. The country is struggling to emerge from the damage Estrada caused to Ramos' reforms at home and investor confidence abroad. Another People Power, and the nation's image could be downgraded from shaky to basket case...
...respond to image and inspiration than intellect. To her credit, she has tried. On several occasions, she's traveled to Tondo, a rank, perilously crowded slum that has essentially been Manila's garbage dump for a decade. On her first visit, she was greeted with boos and pro-Estrada chants. Instead of fleeing, though, she scrambled ahead of her security detail and climbed the cramped stairwells to the squalid apartments and landings from which the voices emanated: "Can I come in?" she shouted, "Let's talk about this. Why are you so angry with me?" They were angry because...
...there a place for leniency for former President Estrada? We have to talk, in terms of healing, about two things. One is the pursuit of justice. The other is how one handles the personal circumstance of Estrada. In terms of the pursuit of justice, we have to be devoted to that. There is an obligation there. But I am sensitive to his personal circumstance -- that's why I bothered to visit him when he was in detention. He was shown, though, having his photo and fingerprints taken, and that was not supposed to happen. Somebody smuggled the images...