Promdi wants Estrada exiled if he quits before verdict

CEBU – If President Estrada decides to step down from office without waiting for the Senate verdict on any of the four articles of impeachment he faces, the united opposition wants him exiled to another country to make him pay for his alleged sins.

In a meeting of the Probinsya Muna Development Initiative or PROMDI the other day, opposition leaders said they will never subscribe to the idea of pardoning Mr. Estrada.

PROMDI vice chairman for the Visayas Winston Garcia, son of Gov. Pablo Garcia, said there will be no compromise with the President.

"If we can send an individual to jail for stealing P2,000, how can we pardon a President who plundered the nation of millions of pesos?," Winston asked.

Mr. Estrada stands accused of taking P400 million in jueteng payoffs from big-time gambling lords from November 1998 to August this year, and another P130 million in alleged tobacco excise tax kickbacks.

Gov. Garcia said PROMDI, a political movement founded by former governor Emilio "Lito" Osmeña when he ran for president in 1998, cannot see any way Estrada can find a way out of the scandal.

So in order to afford the President a semblance of a graceful exit, PROMDI is proposing to banish Mr. Estrada and send him to another country.

"We can only imagine at this time what will happen if the President decides to leave his post before the trial is over. Besides, whether he will be convicted by the Senate or not, we can’t really know if there will be criminal charges that will be filed against him," Garcia said.

PROMDI, he said, believes that it is best for Mr. Estrada to leave Malacañang now.

"If he leaves now, he does not even have to admit his guilt. He will be doing a heroic act by sacrificing himself and his position to save the country," Garcia added. — Freeman News Service