Bid to limit Estrada trial protests

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MANILA, Philippines -- Tens of thousands of protesters say they will surround the Philippine Senate on Thursday to mark the opening of President Joseph Estrada's impeachment trial.

But security authorities intervened Wednesday to limit the numbers in front of the Senate building, ruling that only 500 pro- and 500 anti-Estrada demonstrators may venture within the Senate grounds.

In setting these limits the Philippine National Police and the Senate sergeant-at-arms have effectively banned the march that was meant to knock on the consciences of the 22 senators who will sit as judges in Asia's first impeachment trial of a head of state.

While protesting against Estrada, who is accused of accepting millions of dollars in payoffs, the demonstrators had planned to re-enact the Old Testament story about the walls that crumbled around Jericho.

In that story, the city's walls fell to the ground during a battle with the Hebrews, who had encircled the city for seven days.

Senator Franklin Drilon, who was deposed as the Upper Chamber's president last month after departing from the ruling party LAMP, criticized the security authorities for apparently curbing citizens' rights.

"Their mandate is to maintain order but this does not include the suppression of the civil rights of citizens to peacably assemble and air their grievances," Drilon said.

"Unless we are already under martial rule, I don't see a thread of proof that would warrant the stoppage of the so-called Jericho March," the senator added.

The activists said they also will encircle the Senate for seven days in a sit-down protest after marching in silence to the building. The protesters plan to light a flame and cry out in unison against Estrada.

The activists said candles will be lit in many churches for the duration of the trial, and church bells will ring twice daily. The Philippines is a predominantly Catholic nation.

Drilon believes other senators share his concern and will support the right of protesters to air their views. "This goes for both supporters and critics of the President," he said.

Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino are expected to join the Jericho March after a mass to be celebrated by influnetial Manila archbishop Jaime Sin at the Malate Church, some two kilometers to the Senate building, on Thursday morning.

By Wednesday evening, some 15,000 police will be deployed in different parts of Metro Manila to help ensure order and security ahead of the impeachment trial.

On November 13, Estrada became the first Philippine president to be impeached. The House of Representatives -- accusing Estrada of bribery, corruption, betraying public trust and violating the constitution -- sent four impeachment charges to the Senate.

A two-thirds majority of the 22-member Senate, or 15 votes, is required to convict Estrada and remove him from office. If convicted, Estrada would be the first Asian head of state removed from office through an impeachment trial.

The scandal erupted in October after Luis Singson, governor of Ilocos Sur province, told a Senate hearing that he had delivered about 400 million pesos ($8 million) in payoffs from an illegal numbers game known as "jueteng." Singson also said he had given Estrada millions of pesos in kickbacks from tobacco taxes.

Estrada has denied any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors will meet with Estrada's lawyers Wednesday to set rules for the trial, including time limits on testimony and cross-examination.

Details of that meeting were not immediately available.

Philippine media reported Wednesday that prosecutors were planning to call as witnesses Estrada's wife, Dr. Luisa "Loi" Ejercito Estrada, and five women alleged to be the president's mistresses.

Prosecutors have said the women, who were not identified, were needed to corroborate allegations that Estrada had received millions in "jueteng" payoffs in homes that he had given them.

The media also quoted Philippine Rep. Sergio Apostol, one of the impeachment prosecutors, as saying witnesses were being followed and threatened. Potential witnesses, he said, "have been placed under surveillance. ... They have received telephone calls."

Political analyst Alex Magno said the Philippines was at a crossroads.

"The Senate can either redeem our democratic institutions by allowing a democratic method of removing a dysfunctional president, or run against the tide of public opinion and risk the complete destruction of all our political institutions," he said.

Philippine military officials have said they will not interfere, and Estrada was not expected to seek military support to stay in office if convicted.

"I don't think he has ever been able to cultivate any philosophy of terror or cracking down on the masses," said Teodoro Benigno, a columnist for Manila's Philippine Daily Inquirer who has been critical of Estrada.

CNN Correspondent Maria Ressa, Juan Rufino Vigilar of cnn.com andReuters contributed to this report.

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