Business groups: Resolve jueteng mess soon

Businessmen are not exactly after President Estrada’s head. They just want the mess fixed as soon as possible.

Following a hushed-up consultation session, the country’s most influential business groups have taken a rather non-committal stance on the resignation issue, and instead asked the administration for a quick resolution to the jueteng scandal.

In a strongly worded but sober joint statement entitled "Courage, Truth and Justice," business leaders said the country was on the verge of "spiraling out of control unless more decisive moves were undertaken by the government to address the scandal involving the highest official in the land."

The businessmen warned the administration of "real dangers of capital flight" in the wake of allegations that the President has been receiving millions in illegal gambling contributions.

Signatories to the statement were the Makati Business Club (MBC), the Bishop-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development (BBC), the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (Finex) and the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).

In the statement, the group said the President’s alleged involvement in illegal gambling is only the latest in a series of scandals that have undermined the confidence of local and foreign investors in the government’s ability to lead and manage the economy.

"Taken together, all these scandals – in addition to the strong public perception of the resurgence of cronyism, corruption and moral decay – constitute a crisis of leadership and governance," the document said. "The economy cannot rebound under conditions of uncertainty and the growing perception of wrongdoing in the highest circles of government."

The group called on every concerned Filipino "to express their sentiments freely, peacefully and democratically," a call that some quarters believe could be construed as a clamor for the initiation of impeachment proceedings against Mr. Estrada.

They made veiled references to "constitutional processes" in order to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

"This is the time for each of us – businessmen, government officials, church leaders, students, members of civil society, indeed every Filipino – to study the situation, to think deeply and to act as our conscience dictates," the statement read.

Business leaders also called on members of Congress to rise above party lines and personal interests to expedite the process and spare the country from further downward economic spiral."

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police were also urged "to uphold their sworn duty to protect the Constitution."

The group warned that the plunge might be too deep for the country to rise above it quickly enough to prevent a serious debacle.

"We call on the President and other members of the executive branch to carefully analyze what they must do," the document said. "Quick action is imperative to save our economy."

The business leaders said the administration should decide what action to take, "in order to make way for sweeping reforms that would re-institute public ethics."

The MBC, BBC, Finex and MAP held consultations early this week among members in the wake of snowballing calls for Mr. Estrada’s resignation.

Business leaders had earlier been rumored to be arriving at a consensus supporting the call for the President’s resignation. Their actual statement, however, belied the reports.