RP-wide strike set Nov. 30

Moderate and militant labor unions are planning a nationwide strike on or before Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day, to keep up the pressure for President Estrada to resign, an opposition congressman said yesterday.

"A general strike is now on the table of the broad-based labor movement. In fact, we’ve already set calibrated mass actions leading to a general strike on Bonifacio Day," said former senator and now Rep. Ernesto Herrera (Lakas, Bohol).

Herrera is secretary general of the moderate Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and one of the signatories of the impeachment petition against the President.

Both the TUCP and the militant Kilusang Mayo Uno signed the petition as complainants.

Herrera said the calibrated mass protests will begin this week with a rally at Malacañang to be spearheaded by the Labor Solidarity Movement, which groups labor unions.

"Mr. Estrada has lost the moral authority to lead the country. He must now be removed from office either through forced resignation, impeachment or through other democratic means," he said.

"We are fast approaching a revolutionary situation. The political crisis has become so bad it is now aggravating the economic crisis. The worsening economic crisis, in turn, is further exacerbating the political crisis," he added.

Herrera stressed that the fast deterioration in the value of the peso against the dollar is due to the "irreparable loss of confidence" of the business community in the Estrada administration.

He predicted that the fall of the peso would trigger new rounds of fuel prices increases, closure of businesses and therefore job losses.

At the same time, Herrera warned his colleagues in Congress against railroading the impeachment complaint against Mr. Estrada as this would only lead to more protests.

He said he received information that some administration congressmen are proposing to throw out the petition on a technicality – that it lacks form and substance.

Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. is expected to refer the complaint to the justice committee today or tomorrow.

On the eve of the expected referral, Assistant Minority Leader Michael Defensor (LP, Quezon City) warned Villar that the same group of administration solons who want the impeachment petition railroaded is plotting to oust him.

"They want him to issue statements prematurely clearing Erap, to make fearless predictions that the impeachment complaint will not prosper. In short, they want the leader of a co-equal branch to act as a Palace subject," Defensor said.

Villar earlier said the impeachment hearings will be fair and transparent.

Defensor reiterated the opposition‘s confidence that the number of signatories on the ouster petition will reach 73 to send the complaint to the Senate for trial.

At present, there are 44 signatories, excluding several Liberal Party (LP) congressmen who have announced their decision to sign the petition.

The LP, whose leaders have joined the call for Mr. Estrada to step down, is circulating among House members for their signature a separate resolution endorsing the complaint.

"When we hit 60, the floodgates of more signatories will break open. We will then need only a few good men," Defensor said.

Even as he is facing impeachment, President Estrada was urged yesterday to focus his attention on falling copra prices.

"The coconut industry is in a state of calamity, and coconut farmers are in a state of agitation," said Rep. Ralph Recto (LAMP, Batangas).

Unfortunately, the attention of the national leadership is on the jueteng scandal and the complaint filed with the House to impeach the President, he said.

He said copra prices have fallen to a 15-year low of P2 per kilo from P8 last year.

"That’s a 75 percent drop in income, and no industry in the country has suffered the same loss. While we shed a bucket of tears for the slumping stock market, not one has given a damn about the coconut industry," he added.

Another opposition solon was angered by the statement of National Security Adviser Alexander Aguirre that the Armed Forces and the National Police should oppose moves to remove Mr. Estrada.

Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. (Lakas, Camarines Sur) said he will seek the effective abolition of Aguirre’s office, the National Security Council, by moving for the reduction of its P63.3 million 2001 budget to P1.

He said he would propose that the money be instead allotted to the Philippine General Hospital.

"That money should be used to save lives rather than fund an agency where no intelligent life form is evident," an angry Andaya said.

He said Aguirre should not equate national security with the security of tenure of his Malacañang boss. – Jess Diaz