Everything will depend on the groundswell of public opinion and the mass action in the streets. Even if we have a very peculiar system of politics here in the Philippines, I think, by and large, our legislators are still tuned to public opinion. You must remember that in 1986, despite the very bad impression people in the Philippines and outside the Philippines had of President Marcos, he never resigned. He was forcibly taken out of office. Definitely, a lot of things now will depend on what will happen in the streets.
Public opinion is such a volatile thing.
It can go either way. We're aware of that. Meanwhile it looks like however difficult the process becomes, President Estrada's banishment from the cabinet is the key to a more stable Philippines. Getting him out is the first step in the direction of signaling that we will have a modern government rather than one being ruled by warlords and gangsters. This has turned into a moral question.