Stock mart analysts tell Estrada: Quit

Fearing an erosion of the stock market, the Association of Securities Analysts of the Philippines joined yesterday mounting calls for President Estrada’s resignation.

"The stock market’s deterioration into one of the worst performing markets in the world is due to the country’s ineffectual leadership," the group said in a statement.

Mr. Estrada, on the other hand, simply shrugged off this call as well as that of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) board, which had earlier asked the President to step down.

He said he will continue to hold on to his post, especially after he got the backing of Eraño "Ka Erdie" Manalo, the influential leader of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) sect.

The President’s refusal to quit triggered the stock market to fall sharply on the opening bell, but recovered on follow-through buying for a modest 0.8 percent gain at the close.

However, the peso tracked lower in the morning trade as both dealers and monetary authorities predicted continued short-term market volatility.

The peso averaged 48.83 to the dollar, compared to its Monday close of 48.05 and 51 last week.

The group of securities analysts attributed the erosion of business confidence to the "absence of statesmanship and the mishandling of crucial issues that exposed the lack of morals of the country’s chief executive."

The group then urged their financial market colleagues to pursue market recovery and economic growth by seeking a change in the country’s leadership.

The association joins the growing list of business groups calling for Mr. Estrada’s resignations.

Calls for the President to step down have already been made by the PCCI, the Makati Business Club, the Bishops Businessmen’s Conference, the Management Association of the Philippines, and the Financial Executives’ Institute of the Philippines, among other groups.

Mr. Estrada said he will continue to hang on to his post, especially now that the INC is supporting him.

"I was really thankful to Ka Erdie because he strengthened my resolve," the President said after meeting the church leader in the INC main cathedral in Quezon City.

A source said that Manalo told the President not to worry about the political and economic firestorm because "we will not help those who had turned their backs on you in the coming elections."

"The INC is with you in heart and spirit," the source quoted Manalo as saying further.

The INC is regarded by many politicians as a key political force because its estimated three-million members vote whoever its leaders support.

This church denomination supported the presidential bid of Mr. Estrada in 1998. The INC also backed Ferdinand Marcos in the 1986 presidential snap elections.

Mr. Estrada told the INC-run dzEC radio station that he was elated over the results of a survey by the Social Weather Stations Inc., which showed that 44 percent of Filipinos do not want him to step down.

The respondents said they are unsure if charges that he received millions of pesos in bribes from illegal gambling operators are true.

"That is the good news that the support of the majority is still with me," Mr. Estrada said.

Asked about the PCCI’s call for his resignation, the President said this group is composed mostly of the elite, which have been very critical of his administration

"Anyway… they are only very few," Mr. Estrada said.

In a separate radio interview, Finance Secretary Jose Pardo said PCCI president Miguel Varela clarified to him that the PCCI, as a group, did not take a unified stand on Mr. Estrada’s resignation.

What the group issued was actually the board’s view and not that of the entire PCCI, Pardo quoted Varela as saying.

Varela also told the finance chief that the PCCI "remains apolitical." – With Marichu Villanueva, wire reports