13TH President Of The Philippines
Filipino film actor and director Joseph Estrada was elected vice president of the Philippines in
1992 and president in 1998. A corruption scandal forced him from office in
January 2001.
In 1998
Estrada won the Philippine presidential elections. In October 2000 he became
mired in a corruption scandal, however, and the House of Representatives
impeached him in November.
The
impeachment trial in the Senate was suspended in mid-January 2001 after the
prosecution team resigned to protest the suppression of evidence. Thousands of
Filipinos staged massive demonstrations in the streets of Manila to demand
Estrada’s resignation.
Faced with loss of public support, defections
of important cabinet members, and transfer of key military support to the
political opposition, Estrada was forced from power on January 20. That day,
the Supreme Court declared the presidency vacant, effectively ousting Estrada
from office, and Vice President Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn in as president.
In 2007 a Philippine anticorruption court
convicted Estrada of illegally acquiring wealth while in office.
The court
sentenced him to a maximum of 40 years in prison (essentially a life sentence),
but President Macapagal-Arroyo subsequently issued a pardon that released him.
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