The new tactic of Erap Estrada

Appealing to the international community is the latest strategy of former president Joseph Estrada and his followers to seek justice and secure his release from detention.

The strategists of Estrada have concluded that it is wrong to focus attention solely on legal defense. Since they have concluded that the Erap case is essentially political - propaganda, organizing and international alliance work have become vital to secure one's goal.

The efforts of the group on behalf of Erap are coordinated by a new group called Free and Restore Erap Estrada for Democracy and Order Movement (FREEDOM). This group is headed by Mr. Edno Joson, former governor Nueva Ecija and member of the famous political clan in Central Luzon.

A prominent member of the group is Mr. Jose Comendador, a retired air force general associated with rebel military. The propaganda line of the group is summarized by Commendador who said on Friday: "If they can do this to an elected president, paano na 'yung mga ordinaryong mamamayan." We are not sure if the entry of Comendador in the group implies that FREEDOM has the support of the rebel military.

In reviving the campaign for Erap's release before the United Nations - they marched to the UN office in Manila last Friday - the group, in effect, also revives the "constitutional clock" argument. This argument holds that, since Erap was illegally ousted by an unfinished impeachment trial, justice requires that he should be returned to the Palace. The clock should be reset to pay for the time stolen from the ousted president.

That clock argument has since been debunked by the Supreme Court in a landmark decision penned by Justice Reynato Puno. But the followers of Estrada refused to accept the verdict. They continue to revive this argument at the level of propaganda. A few months ago, a group of UP professors came up with an economic study that was to be used by Erap to justify his return.

Joson, the new leader of the Pro-Erap group, comes in fresh. A member of the Raul Roco for President Movement, he cannot be faulted as a follower of Estrada. He presents himself now as a crusader for justice. His immediate plan is to come up with millions of signatures seeking the release of Estrada. I also predict that when the government wants a negotiated settlement on the Estrada case, Joson will present himself as the negotiator on the side of Estrada.

* * * RP NGO delegation in WTO-Hong Kong

We have two kinds of delegations in the ongoing World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong - the government panel and the NGO group. Although they slightly differ in approaches to the meeting, they both agree that our agricultural sector should be protected.

IBON Foundation, the progressive think tank in RP, believes that our agriculture should be protected most. "Since much of the Third World remains dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, negotiations on further opening up the sector remain the main contentious issue in WTO talks," IBON said.

We are in a catch-up situation now because our government made an error ten years ago when it agreed to the opening of the agriculture sector. But now, it is clear that our agriculture is even worse than it was ten years ago. In short, opening up agriculture was not good for us. Now we are realizing that.

It should be easy for the Philippine delegation to come up with a position in Hong Kong, all it has to do is to base its positions with the many Third World countries who suffered from the opening up.