Ousting A President
A Report From Mendiola
By Nicanor Perlas
Member, Steering Committee of Kompil2
January 24, 2001

There were three events that signaled the inevitability of a peaceful transition to a new government. There was the inauguration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, in EDSA Shrine, as the new President of the Philippines. There was the undignified exit of former President Joseph Estrada from Malacañang and his escape in a barge waiting for him. And there was that event, really a series of related events, that we call Peoples Power.

Peoples Power – The Mendiola Perspective

People Power in Edsa Shrine, Mendiola, and all over the Philippines booted Estrada out of office. The outpouring of over a million into the streets enabled Vice President Arroyo to claim her place as the constitutional successor to the Office of the President. The story of the ascent of Arroyo to power and the decline of Estrada has been told. But important key aspects of Peoples Power have not.

I would like to focus this report on Peoples Power, that aspect that showed itself in the march to Mendiola to pressure Estrada to vacate Malacañang. This does not mean that Peoples Power in Edsa Shrine and around the Philippines are not important. All of these are important. Many aspects of Peoples Power all over the Philippines are consciously connected with each other.

This aspect of the story needs to be told because the Peoples Power in Mendiola has not been adequately reported on even though it was a central event in the final drama of ousting a corrupt and immoral president. The Mendiola march was the event that forced the disgraceful flight of Estrada from office and prevented further complications when Peoples Power in Edsa Shrine conferred on Arroyo her new status as President.

Estrada, as we have seen, does not respect laws and institutions. The Edsa inauguration of Arroyo as president of the republic meant nothing to him. This is clearly seen by his claim that he has not resigned. He had to be pressured to abandon his office in Malacañang. Only then could it be clear once and for all that the Philippines had a new President.

Preparing for the End of Estrada

On the evening of January 19, civil society and business leaders of Kompil2 met with leaders from political groups, including Bayan and Kangkong Brigade. These were the social formations that had mobilized, together with Cardinal Sin and former president Corazon Aquino, people to gather in Edsa Shrine to oust Estrada from office. We discussed actions to take in the light of the defection of the armed forces and the national police to the side of the people. We developed a two-pronged plan.

First, we decided to set a deadline for Estrada to resign. And, if did not resign, we also decided to march to Malacañang to pressure Estrada to resign. Second, we also decided that it was important to maintain the presence of Peoples Power in Edsa Shrine. With the failure of government institutions, especially the Senate, Edsa Shrine became the parliament of the streets, the new center for democracy in the country. We viewed the march to Malacañang as intimately connected with the surging of spiritual and social power that had started to emanate from Edsa shrine.

We gave Estrada a deadline to resign by 6:00 AM, Saturday, January 20. Meanwhile, tens of thousands stayed in Edsa Shrine to maintain a vigil and await for the response of Estrada. At 6:00 AM, no word came from Estrada. We thus promptly started the march to Malacañang after some prayers of divine guidance.

We did not specify which area in Malacañang to gather for security reasons. We received reports that pro-Estrada snipers were present to protect Malacañang. We were also warned that a few thousand pro-Estrada groups, armed with knives, icepicks, stones, and pillboxes, were still protecting Malacañang. In addition, we also received news that goons connected with Estrada and his cronies were also present now that Estrada had lost control of the military and the police.

The March to Mendiola 

Fifty thousand of us started marching in the early morning of Saturday. The mood was jubilant, militant, and determined despite the fact that most of us had not slept all through the night. We marched southbound in Edsa on the way to Shaw Boulevard. There we met a contingent of the police who were there to help provide security for our march. It was clear the military and the police had kept their promise to respect the constitutional principle of civilian supremacy over the military and were mobilizing to support the will of the people.

There was another aspect to this. Throughout the march, the relationships between the mobilized citizenry and the police were cordial and friendly. There were a number of times when members of the police force explained to us their problems with the Estrada administration. The most prominent among these was the cutbacks of the deserved pay as a result of budget deficits that Estrada continued to accumulate.

As is done traditionally, as leaders of the protest movement, we were in front of the march. However, barely thirty minutes into the march, we found ourselves in the middle of the march. Our ranks had swelled, both in front of us and behind us. Tens of thousands greeted us and decided to join our ranks. They poured into both the front and the back of the march. By the time we reached one approach to Malacañang, just before the bridge in Nagtahan, our ranks had swelled to around 300,000 people.

We had to wait there while the police tried to secure Mendiola from the presence of fanatical and dangerous Estrada supporters whose numbers rapidly dwindled as the huge anti-Estrada march approached Malacañang. After an hour of waiting, we mobilized towards Mendiola. The marshals of the march guided the march leaders near the front of the march towards Mendiola.

A few blocks from Mendiola, we stopped again because the few fanatical pro-Estrada people who were left had thrown a pillbox into the advance crowd which went there. A policeman was slightly injured by the blast. The Pro-Estrada people also threw stones. However, within thirty minutes, the police stabilized the situation.

We were now ready for the final liberation of Mendiola. We locked each other’s elbows and moved rapidly forward amidst shouts of “Makibaka! ‘Wag matakot!” [“Struggle. Do not be afraid."]

Victory at Mendiola

In a few minutes, it was over. We had recaptured Mendiola from the pro-Estrada forces and slowly moved our way towards Malacañang. The gates of the presidential palace was only 200 meters away. However, we were met by a phalanx of Presidential Security Guards (PSG) in anti-riot gear. We maintained our calm and our peace and started negotiating with them.

As we were in the middle of this process, we received the news that Estrada had resigned (which he later denied). And after 15 minutes, we received news of the start of the ceremonies installing Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new President of the Republic of the Philippines. We cheered loudly and started our victory celebration in the streets of Mendiola.

The Message of People Power

There are a number of lessons of People Power II that need to be stressed.

First, a vast and widespread protest movement, triggered by civil society and later on joined by business and political formations, forced Estrada out of office.

Second, this same citizen protest movement, in effect, made possible, without the benefit of elections and in line with the constitution, the assumption of Arroyo as president.

Third, this vast movement has vowed that they will not be left out of important policy considerations. They expect a radical transformation of the political culture of the country as well as of government policies and institutions. They want the agencies of government geared to serve the peoples, especially the poor. They do not want a continuation of the war with their Muslim brothers and sisters in Mindanao. They want peace. And they have crafted an agenda for comprehensive sustainable development which they expect the new government to take into serious consideration.

There is another aspect to this new vast movement that has risen to the surface. All are deeply committed, and, as seen in the Mendiola march, willing to die for their convictions and commitment. While Peoples Power is patient, once it mobilizes, it will achieve its end, no matter what the obstacle. This has already been demonstrated twice in Edsa 1 and now in Esda 2.

In this context, I thus it found it very significant that, at the final end, Peoples Power found itself gathering in two places, signaling that the new government will have to contend with two complementary faces of Peoples Power.

Edsa Shrine, where Arroyo took her oath of office, symbolizes that part of Peoples Power that can seriously engage government in the creation of a new Philippines. President Arroyo has the opportunity to do this if she continues her reliance on the very movement that brought her into office. Mendiola, where Estrada was pressured to resign, represents that part of Peoples Power that will mobilize to remove any corrupt, immoral or ineffective government from office. President Arroyo will face this organized, talented, techno-savvy, and committed force if she betrays the spirit and will and Edsa 2.

Two Suggestions to the New Government

I would like to end this report with two suggestions for President Arroyo and the new government.

First, she should ensure that the heightened activism of the people find meaningful expression and implementation in her new government. To achieve this, she can mainstream and institutionalize a world-renowned social innovation that the Philippines has pioneered. I refer to threefolding, including authentic tri-sector partnerships.

Threefolding means finding a way to develop authentic partnerships between the three key institutions of society: civil society, government, and business. Civil society includes NGOs, POs, church groups, professional groups, the academe, and other groups committed primarily to the creation of a new culture and a new just and more compassionate society. These three key institutes bring perspectives that are essential for society as a whole. People and groups from these three key institutions provided the leadership and the context for the participation of larger society in the removal of Estrada from office. Threefolding allows these three key institutions to come together in a way that respects their autonomy while harmonizing their different but complementary talents together for the benefit of society.

Second, the President should set up a threefolding or tri-sectoral task force on appointments. This task force will thus be composed of representatives from business, government and civil society. They will be tasked to develop the appropriate criteria for drawing up a list of candidates to invite as Cabinet members and as heads of the various government agencies. Political patronage and political utang na loob should be removed as a criteria for appointing somebody into office.

There are many other suggestions. We in Kompil2 have articulated some of these. But the two suggestions above are important in terms of building a process by which the integrity and performance of the new administration can be supported.

We have helped create Edsa 2. We intend to remain vigilant so that an Edsa 3 will not come. And we hope those in the new government will share these sentiments because I can guarantee them that hundreds of thousands outside government share these sentiments. Together let us work in the sprit of Peoples Power as symbolized by the Edsa shrine. By doing so, it will not be necessary to convene Peoples Power as symbolized by Mendiola. Together, we can create a new Philippines! Matauhan na tayo! [Let us awaken to our humanity and to the true nature of our social realities!]