Erap: Losing may be a blessing for FPJ

He may have lost the race for the presidency, but at least actor Fernando Poe Jr. does not have to cope with a "bankrupt" government.

Jailed former President Joseph Estrada made this statement yesterday in what seemed to be an effort to comfort his bosom buddy.

Estrada said he had been "worried" that, had Poe won the presidential elections, he would find that President Arroyo, who ran for a full six-year term against Poe, had used "all the government resources" at her disposal as the incumbent during the campaign period.

Now that official estimates project that the budget deficit will reach P197 billion by yearend and the country is burdened with debt, Estrada fears the government’s "bankruptcy" will make life more difficult for the Filipino people even if Mrs. Arroyo has a full mandate.

Estrada also said through his spokesman Rolly Ramirez that he expects the first year of Mrs. Arroyo’s term to be critical and difficult.

"The government is bankrupt," Ramirez said, quoting Estrada. "We have as much as P5.3 trillion in foreign debts — P360 billion which is over one third or 39 percent of the budget, goes to debt payments. What would happen to basic public services?"

"The first year of Gloria (Macapagal-Arroyo) will see hard days to come for the people," he said. "It would be a critical period with the fiscal position of government."

Estrada announced Sunday, the eve of Mrs. Arroyo’s state of the nation address (SONA), that he would constitute a shadow government that would monitor the implementation of the 10-point "legacy" program unveiled by Mrs. Arroyo in her inaugural address last June 30.

Ironically, it was during his first SONA in July 1998 that Estrada complained that his administration had inherited a "bankrupt" government from former President Fidel Ramos.

In a talk with The STAR at Malacañang during the June 12 vin d’honneur commemorating Independence Day, Ramos said Estrada’s tirades about inheriting a bankrupt government caused bad blood between them.

Ramos later supported the EDSA II uprising that ousted Estrada on Jan. 21, 2001 and installed then Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president.

Ramirez said Estrada was the one who encouraged Poe to run against Mrs. Arroyo in the recent elections despite Poe’s lack of formal education and inexperience in government and politics. Estrada initially wanted Poe to run as standard-bearer for his party, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

The PMP was one of the opposition parties that coalesced with the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) to form the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), which fielded Poe and his running mate former senator Loren Legarda.

Estrada also welcomed the decision of Poe and Legarda to file separate formal electoral protest petitions last week before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), Ramirez said.

Estrada’s spokesman said the ousted president advised Poe to file his electoral protest despite the fact that such an attempt will be seen as futile because the PET is composed of Supreme Court justices - eight of whom are Mrs. Arroyo’s appointees.

By filing their protests, Poe and Legarda have paved the way for the public opening of contested election returns, over which the opposition accused the administration of committing "massive cheating."

Ramirez quoted Estrada as saying that "just to show that there indeed was massive cheating and massive vote-buying during the elections - that’s the only intention for (the filing of the electoral protest)."

"We have become a COC - a country of cheaters, a country of (the) corrupt, a country of cowards," Estrada was further quoted as saying.