The growing number of influential people abandoning Erap is close to turning into a mad exodus. As savvy politicians say, in politics there are no permanent friends, only temporary allies. When Mr. Estrada won the presidency, politicians, businessmen and other influentials let pragmatism win the day, shrugged their shoulders and grudgingly accepted that the former movie star had bested them.
Life goes on, it's time to move on.
And so most of the nation acquiesced to the Erap presidency. But there were stragglers, those who held the firm belief that Erap was simply incapable of being president. And there were those who had the prescience to predict that Estrada would not serve out his six-year term. But most of the Establishment, especially business, predictably chose to live and let live. Business, that sector that prizes order over law, lent its support to Erap.