Word: estradas
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...That scenario wouldn't be without precedent. Arroyo has already survived two coup attempts during her six years in office. She herself came to power after her predecessor, Joseph Estrada, was ousted in a military-backed protest movement dubbed People Power II after the nonviolent revolution that overthrew dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. In September, the country's anticorruption court convicted Estrada of plundering more than $15 million while in office and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Yet on Oct. 25, Arroyo granted Estrada a pardon on the grounds that he had already served more than six years under house...
...Arroyo painted the pardon, announced Thursday evening, as both an act of mercy and an attempt to bridge the country's deep political fissures. Speaking to a business conference in Manila, she called Estrada's trial and imprisonment "a cause of distraction, recrimination and intrigue." Pardoning Estrada, she added, will promote national reconciliation...
...Arroyo administration spokesman yesterday noted that Estrada, 70, has already been under house arrest for more than six years since being overthrown in the mass protests movement dubbed People Power II. Estrada had also asked to spend time with his gravely ill mother. And, the spokesman noted, a court decision requiring Estrada to forfeit his ill-gotten gains remains in effect...
...Many Filipinos impute less altruistic motives. Estrada, a former B-list movie actor, remains hugely influential among average Filipinos - particularly compared to Arroyo. Indeed, a recent survey found that Estrada remains much more popular and more credible than the current President. Before the pardon, Estrada refused to accept the legitimacy of the Arroyo government. Letting him off, critics say, may be a way of muting his criticism and defusing the resentment of his followers. (As part of his deal with the administration, Estrada has promised not to run for office...
...however politically expedient and however popular with the masses, the decision to pardon Estrada in a nation struggling with endemic corruption strikes many here as deeply cynical. "Of course we'd rather see him in jail," says Alberto Lim, director of the influential Makati Business Council. "They say there's no big fish caught in this country. He was the big fish we caught...