Estrada row erupts into a "mirthful" Manila revolution

Accused of taking bribes from gambling lords and enriching himself in office, the former actor has survived one scandal after another since taking office 30 months ago.

But he may find it tougher going this time, analysts say.

"When the prosecution panel begins detailing its evidence against Mr Estrada, the entire nation will be listening intently…The popular expectation for conviction will be great," said analyst Alex Magno.

Estrada is digging in his heels.

Insisting that he is innocent and vowing to see out a term that ends in 2004, the embattled leader goes around the country blasting his opponents for trying to wreck the economy with their almost daily protests.

Estrada cites opinion surveys which show more Filipinos oppose than agree to his resignation.

The latest survey shows that while equal numbers – 41 per cent – approve and disapprove of his performance, 47 per cent do not agree he should step down while 36 per cent agree he should go, the Philippine Star newspaper said on Sunday, quoting pollster Pulse Asia.

But the Roman Catholic Church, with considerable political clout in the largely Christian country, is not to be appeased.

"Let us ask God to enlighten the President so that he may resign as soon as possible so that we can resume our work of building our nation based on morality and fear of the Lord," Cardinal Jaime Sin said in a newspaper notice on Sunday.

Sin, who helped lead the 1986 "people power" revolt which swept away Ferdinand Marcos’s dictatorship, urged Filipinos to pray the rosary every day – at home, in school and at work during lunch breaks – to persuade Estrada to step down.

From church pulpits came similar calls.

Local communist chief Jose Maria Sison urged Filipinos in a recent statement to launch bigger protests to pave the way "for the soonest possible direct encirclement of the presidential palace by at least one million people until he resigns".

The campaign against Estrada has turned Manila’s streets into a battleground.

While presidential supporters last week marched chanting "Estrada remain," 20,000 Filipinos torched a huge effigy portraying Estrada as `Godzilla’, a giant movie monster which demolished everything in its path.

In a Manila neighbourhood, children threw rubbish at a cardboard sheet to see who could hit Estrada’s picture in the bull’s-eye.

Elsewhere, residents put a mask of Estrada around the snout of a greased pig and promised a reward to anyone who would catch it. The slippery animal escaped.

On Sunday, cyclists wheeled around the Senate building, where the trial opens on December 7, their chests emblazoned with signs "Estrada resign".

A pop group is launching a book of songs mocking Estrada, titled "Christmas without Erap" – referring to the President’s nickname which, spelt backwards, means buddy in Filipino.

Popular wrath drove out Marcos 14 years ago.

Now Estrada faces a "mirthful revolution", the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper said.

"It’s a revolution of humour and creativity," it said."It’s a revolution of scathing buffoonery and caustic jocularity. It’s a revolution that the President cannot ignore."