IT'S XIAOTIME!

Michael Charleston “Xiao” B. Chua

13 May 2025

The Philippine Centennial on June 12, 1998, was the crowning moment of a nation. It was also celebrated in an election year, so just a few days after that, on June 30, the ceremony of transition happened from Fidel V. Ramos to Joseph Ejercito Estrada. Despite opposition from the elite and the Church, the election of the actor-politician was a breath of fresh air. He spoke in the language that people understood and vowed to be the president for the poor, “Ama ng Masa” — Father of the Masses. He is Erap, “pare,” friend. His inaugural address resonated to the people: “Walang kaibigan, walang kumpare, walang kamag-anak o anak na maaaring magsamantala ngayon. At ngayon pa lamang sinasabi ko sa inyo, nag-aaksaya lamang kayo ng panahon. Huwag niyo akong subukan.” But he was tested.

The media scrutinized his every move, making governance difficult. But he abolished the pork barrel for legislators during his term. His significant Cabinet picks gave his administration notable achievements. Horacio “Boy” Morales, the agrarian reform secretary, and William Dar and Edgardo Angara, his agriculture secretaries; implemented Agrikulturang Makamasa. Estrada signed the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), instituted the Farmer’s Trust Fund and provided capacity-building and support services to beneficiaries of agrarian reform. This was able to increase agricultural output levels to 6 percent, a feat during that time. Mar Roxas, the trade and industry secretary, also brought business process outsourcing (BPO) to the Philippines, which created quality jobs for many Filipinos.

Despite Estrada’s sincerity to help the poor, he was perhaps hampered by his personal flaws. He woke up late and started work at noon, and would meet his friends in the late evening, prompting his chief of staff and admirer, Aprodicio Laquian, who came home from Canada to work for him, to joke that Erap had a “midnight cabinet.” Laquian was summarily fired. Although his love life was no secret, investigative journalists probed on their families’ lifestyles. He cracked down on the media by asking his friends in the movie industry to stop putting out ads in critical newspapers, prompting the brief closure of The Manila Times. Eventually, the rivalry on gambling of his friends prompted one, Chavit Singson, to detail Erap’s involvement in jueteng payola, which made his allies in Congress turn against him and resulted in an impeachment trial, which became for all of us a national learning moment on constitutional processes.

The EDSA heroes like Cory Aquino and Jaime Cardinal Sin went back to the streets calling for his resignation. But when Estrada allies in the Senate blocked the opening of a second bank envelope supposedly containing evidence against him, the people began messaging one another through SMS. And a spontaneous revolt called “EDSA Dos” occurred on the night of Jan. 16, 2001. After three days, the military and the police withdrew support from Estrada and the next day, Jan. 20, he was forced to leave the palace without writing a letter of resignation, which cast some doubt on the legitimacy of his successor, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s accession.

The turbulent division in the country became evident when, just about three months after, Estrada was detained on plunder charges and his supporters staged the bloody “EDSA Tres.” But Arroyo was a decisive leader. She was able to also foil the Oakwood mutiny of 2003, the war on terror, and was able to stop the spread of the SARS corona virus in the country. In her 2002 state of the nation address, she announced her vision of a “Strong Republic.” She wanted more coordinated growth through the super regions and also initiated the Strong Republic Nautical Highway, which literally united the islands in a series of roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ports, which make possible the easy transfer of goods and vehicles from one island to another. To help heal the nation, she announced on Rizal Day 2002 that she would not run for the presidency as a supreme sacrifice. I was told by a friend of hers that breaking that promise was her greatest mistake. She defeated the King of Philippine Movies Fernando Poe Jr. in the 2004 elections but a telephone call from her to a Comelec official immediately after the polls would surface, which would haunt her for the rest of her term. There were a number of corruption allegations that surfaced, most notably the ZTE broadband deal, and with a dismal human rights record against activists, Arroyo just spent the rest of the term barely surviving the turbulent political climate. Yet to be fair, she built more public infrastructure than three of her predecessors combined and provided the sound economic fundamentals which were felt in the next decade until the pandemic happened.

Despite GMA being a stable leader, the turbulence of her time shaped the aspirations of the people for a next era, not just for kaginhawahan but also for katuwiran.