Philippine Episcopal Primate Joins Calls for President Estrada's Resgination

       (ENS) The Prime Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the Philippines has joined calls for the resignation of Philippine Presdient Joseph Estrada. Allegations of corruption have dogged Estrada's twoo-year administration, but for the first time a high-ranking officialhas recently accused Estrada of profiting personally. Ilocos Sur Governor Luis "Chavit" Singson, a member of the Estrada innder circle, charged that Estrada was given more than P400 million in payoffs by illegal gambling operators engaged in the highly popular game called jueteng.

       "The jueteng gambling scandal has eroded the morality of the President leadership--his moral ascendancy," said the October 18 statement by the Most Rev. Ignacio Soliba. "It has destroyed the trust and confidence given by the Filipino electorate for him to govern this cuntry effectively and responsibly. For His Excellency, President Estrada, to remain as the President has become painfully unbearable for many Filipinos. The call of the hour is for him to make a magnanimous sacrificew by stepping down from the Presidency," the statement said.

       "We no join the churches, NGOs, people's organizationsm business, and other sectors; and we urge and call upon our beloved President to resign voluntarily and irrevocably as an advanced gift for his people. All in the spirit of Christmans and the Jubilee Year 2000. Mr. President, to do so would be a great honor, a heroic act, a supreme sacrifice for you and for the good of your people," the statement concludes.

       A statement release in October by the Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) also called for Estrada to "voluntarily divest himself of his presidential power--an act that could unite the people in collectively realizing their hopes and aspirations for justice, truth and freedom." (Excerped from Episcopal News Service, 10.31.00)