The immovable object and the irresistible force - ROSES AND THORNS by Alejandro R. Roces

What happens when an immovable object meets the irresistible force? There can be no stalemate. One or the other has to give in. This is the situation in the country today. Powerful segments of society want President Estrada to step down. President Estrada says "No way."

In the meantime, there is an impeachment proceeding going against the president. If he does not voluntarily relinquish power, he may be impeached. There are people who believe that it is not people’s power or impeachment that will determine the issue. It is the economy. The peso has reached an all-time low and the stock market is down. The effects of this economic meltdown will have its worst impact in the next few years. As former National Economic Development Authority head Solita Monsod said, we will have an emerging citizenry without proper education, training and poor health.

The problem is what we do today. The jueteng scandal has tarnished the president’s image abroad. Our problem is not how to attract foreign investments. It is how to prevent foreign and local capital from leaving. No one can have faith in a president who is a notorious womanizer, heavy drinker, big-time gambler and profligate. Undoubtedly, the sooner the president voluntarily steps down from power, the better.

Our feeling is that President Estrada will follow President Nixon’s example. He will resign rather than face impeachment. The next question is: When will he resign? The way we see things, he will bide his time and wait until the impeachment proceedings reach the Senate, which will be on November 13. He will wait for the proceedings to start and will resign shortly before they make a decision. In this way, he will find time to give rational explanations for other accusations such as the alleged mansions that he owns for his mistresses. If he resigns before the Senate renders its decision on his impeachment, then the impeachment proceedings stop. It becomes academic because its purpose is to get him out of power and he is no longer in Malacañang.

It is said that we are undergoing this crisis on the very last months of the second millennium. Our only hope is that his voluntary resignation or impeachment happens before the end of this year. In that way, we can begin afresh at the start of the third millennium.

President Estrada has time and again blamed his predicament on the elite of Makati. He still believes that he is the champion of the underprivileged. That is why the Juetengate must be fully investigated. Because the charge against him is that he is a jueteng lord. And the victims of jueteng are the very poor. President Estrada looks down on the rich, but his profligacy is known to one and all. The rich invest their money on industries and projects that create employment, not on mansions for mistresses.

We sincerely hope that President Estrada does the most unselfish and noble thing he can do in his life, and that is, resign from the presidency. It will be a heroic gesture.