PARA SA MAHIRAP?

Erap will be written down in history books as the first Philippine president impeached by Congress-115 members of the house of representatives endorsed the articles of impeachment on the basis of bribery, graft and corruption, betrayal of the public trust and culpable violation of the Constitution and the law.

But to most Filipinos, the greatest disappointment in Erap is his failure to fulfill the campaign promise that brought him to the presidency. For the poor, the campaign slogan "Erap para sa Mahirap" has turned out to be a lie. It is now unmasked as a mere campaign slogan calculated to deliver the votes from the masa.

In the two-and-a-half years of his term as president, Erap has made even more promises he could not fulfill. He repaid his political debts, not to the poor, but to his patrons that financed his campaign. He gave out companies, contracts, franchises, and government positions to his cronies.

As for the poor, there has been no palpable improvement in their lives. In reality, the Erap administration has become a "hirap" administration because asset reforms have come to a standstill if not suffered reversals. Consider the following:

For the Farmers:

• The slowest pace of implementation of agrarian reform under Erap and DAR Secretary Boy Morales.
  
  
• Zero budget for land distribution for the year 2000.
  
  
• A corporative agrarian reform program which will put lands in the firmer control of the rich landlords.
  
  
• Rampant cases of cancellation of Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (CLOA) and Emancipation Patents (EP) for farmer beneficiaries of agrarian reform.

For the Workers:

• Dispersal of the striking workers in various picket lines, notably those in PAL, LRT and Manila Hotel.
  
  
• Ignoring demands for minimum wage increases to allow workers to live decently.
  
  
• Encouraging labor contractualization that makes workers "permanent casuals" and discourages union organizing

For the Urban Poor

• Low priority for socialized mass housing.
  
  
• Demolition of communities without a ready relocation site.
  
  
• Replacement of pro-urban poor government officials in-charge of housing.

For the Indigenous Peoples

• Complete halt in the awarding of Certificates of Ancestral Domain Claims and Titles.
  
  
• No operational funding for the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the government agency in charge of implementing the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.
  
  
• Full speed implementation of the Mining Act, which displaces indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands and places the environment in deeper peril.

For the Fisherfolk

• Low support for the implementation of the Fisheries Code which prohibits large-scale commercial fishing in lakes and municipal waters.
  
  
• Allowing shoreline quarrying operations, further damaging the marine ecosystem.

And for the women, who constitute half of society, Erap has been a bad example by flaunting his drinking, gambling and womanizing. To Erap, his women are mere proof of his masculinity-he treats them as objects to be owned and accumulated; and as persons who can be bribed into silence by providing them with lavish lifestyles. Mr. Estrada has become living proof of society's violence against women by proving that men can get away with all these vices if they have the power.

The Estrada administration has also subverted the government structure that makes it possible for the organized basic sectors to participate in government policy planning. He has issued Administrative Order 36, which allows him to handpick the representatives of the poor in the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC). By this act, he has removed representatives that the organized poor chose for themselves through their own democratic consultations and processes.

Erap's centerpiece anti-poverty program, the Lingap para sa Mahirap, is nothing but a repackaged version of existing government programs already in place. Worse, selection of the "100 poorest families" in every province and city has only made the programs more vulnerable to corruption and patronage politics because politicians themselves choose who shall be among these "100 poorest families."

The Erap administration desperate actions-to try to salvage his dwindling popularity ratings and level of trust from the people-has only put himself and the country into greater disaster. Erap's war in Mindanao was an effective tool to prop up his dwindling popularity but it was achieved at great cost in terms of lives and damage to property. Thousands have been killed, mostly innocent civilians. Some 650,000 Filipinos have been displaced, the vast majority of whom are the poor who, even if they could return to their homes, face certain hunger because their livelihood has been disrupted irreparably. The war has also renewed animosity among the Muslim and Christian Filipinos because of the Erap and military's propaganda which presented the war as against Muslims in general.

Because of its own actions, the Erap administration is doomed. Not even its sudden pro-poor posture-which has come in too late and is highly suspect-can save the Mr. Estrada from remaining in office. And might even be these same actions that will cause Mr.Estrada's own undoing because, as it turns out, most have turned out to be a farce:

• In the North Triangle, the land that was awarded to the present occupants have already been contracted to a real estate developer.
  
  
• In Tala, lands parceled out were taken away from its original intended beneficiaries-the lepers of the Tala Leprosarium.
  
  
• In Commonwealth, distributed xerox copies of land titles have been ordered returned because these were incomplete. The residents had fought for this land since the time of Marcos. It is not for Erap to give it away, it is for the residents to claim.
  
  
• The coco levy Executive Order favors Mr. Danding Cojuangco, the Erap crony who has benefited from these funds all along.
  
  
• Offering the resumption of peace talks with the MILF without preconditions but without any substantive proposals to build a lasting peace. After the war, this betrays the administration's lack of understanding of the roots of the Mindanao conflict.

Erap is again turning to the poor to save him from disgrace. And to this we say: Enough, Mr. Estrada! Stop using the poor for your own personal benefit. You have had your chance to prove that you are really for the poor but you have done nothing! Erap must learn his own lesson: The only way he can help solve the present crisis is to step down from office.

We have learned our lesson to stop believing in Mr. Estrada's leadership. If he will not resign. We will make him step down through impeachment or by direct collective action in accordance with our constitutional rights.

National Peace Conference (NPC)
Kongreso ng Mamamayang Pilipino (KOMPIL 2)
28 November 2000