MANILA — Ten thousand people rallied here on October 18 calling for the impeachment or resignation of Philippine President Joseph Estrada (known by his nickname "Erap"). The rally was organised by the RIO (Resign Impeach Oust Erap) alliance centred on the main capitalist opposition party, Lakas-NUCD, and Bayan, the main legal front organisation of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
The politics of the rally was dominated by the right-wing Lakas-NUCD. As well as several politicians from Lakas-NUCD, speakers included former members of Estrada's party, LAMP. Rally participants came primarily from the elite of Philippine society. T-shirts supporting current vice-president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (popularly known as GMA), who recently resigned from her position in the cabinet and is a member of Lakas-NUCD, were common. The event had a pro-GMA election campaign flavour to it.
The self-confessed gambling lord Governor Luis Singson received the loudest applause. Singson fell foul of the regime and blew the whistle on Erap's income from illegal gambling.
The CPP mobilised only 1000 people. The three CPP-aligned speakers — from the women rights organisation Gabriella, Bayan and the trade union May First Movement (KMU) — emphasised the importance of unity to force Erap to resign. The CPP-aligned leaders were invited on stage by Lakas-NUCD politicians to join hands "in unity" with members of the right-wing Reform Armed Forces Movement, a wing of the Philippine military with a history of right-wing coup plotting. Cameras flashed at this unusual scene.
None of the CPP-aligned speakers mentioned the CPP's view on the strong possibility that a GMA government may replace the Estrada regime. The leader of the CPP Jose Maria Sison in a recent statement argued that Erap should "immediately give way to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo". The statement called for a government of "national unity".
Calls for Estrada's resignation by influential figures such as Cardinal Sin and former president Cory Aquino have added significant momentum to the campaign against the regime. However, the Catholic Church and Aquino have not yet mobilised their supporters, preferring to follow constitutional methods.
Some left groups, such as Sanlakas and the Socialist Party of Labor (SPP), managed to speak at the rally. Rasti Delizo speaking for the SPP called for "people's power" to force Erap to resign and rejected GMA as a viable alternative. Delizo called for an end to trapo (traditional politicians') politics and for a government of the poor.
The SPP speaker appealed to Bayan supporters to unite with the left movement in its campaign to force Erap to resign. Attempts were made to stop the Delizo from finishing his speech and he was heckled by the crowd.
A speaker from Akbayan, a liberal electoral party influenced by the social-democratic BISIG party, called for Erap to be impeached by Congress.
The rest of the left has as yet to unite to launch a campaign of street actions to force the president out of office. In a first move towards a united left response, a press conference of non-CPP left groups on October 17 announced the formation of a broad left coalition called the People's Action to Remove Erap.
The alliance proposed a "people's power" campaign to force Estrada's resignation, rejected GMA as an alternative and called for a government that genuinely represents the people. Several actions have been planned.
For the moment the pro-GMA, anti-Estrada wing of the ruling class, with the blessing of the CPP, have been allowed to take the initiative.
BY REIHANA MOHIDEEN