Estrada's fate was sealed by the declaration of support for Vice president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo by the chief of the armed forces. Major business representatives and the hierarchy of the Catholic Church had already added their voices to the opposition's drive to oust Estrada.

Washington stated its support for the new government headed by Arroyo, who had resigned from Estrada's cabinet October 12. Both the capitalist class and their imperialist masters view her as better qualified than Estrada to serve their interests. According to the Wall Street Journal, Arroyo, the daughter of a former president, "was backed in part by big business and some of the landed Philippine families that control most of the nation's companies and wealth."

Estrada had been elected in May 1998 with a large majority. He campaigned around "law and order" themes, saying he would enforce the laws against criminals and corrupt politicians "without fear or favor." One campaign slogan read, "Elect Erap as President of the Masses." The approach proved effective, even though Estrada is in fact a veteran of more than 30 years' involvement in politics, having served as mayor of the San Juan suburb of Manila, a member of the senate, and as vice president under Fidel Ramos for six years from 1992.

As president, Estrada pursued economic policies in line with the dictates of the International Monetary Fund. His government promoted legislation "opening up the country's economic potential to companies from the United States and all over the world," in the words of one official statement. IMF officials, representing the interests of imperialist investors, kept the pressure up by making the release of promised loans conditional on such measures.

The new government has given no indication that it will reverse this course. The finance minister in the new government, former senator Alberto Romulo, said on his appointment that "he would try to regain the confidence of jittery foreign investors, who abandoned Philippine markets in droves in recent weeks," according to the New York Times. Foreign investors also reportedly withdrew $390 million from the Philippines economy in the first eight months of 2000.

In spite of a growth rate of around 4 percent last year and an expansion in exports, the recovery in the Philippines economy following the 1997–98 Asian financial crash and economic crisis has not kept pace with that seen among other semicolonial nations in the region.  
 
Economic dependency
The country's economy, in which agriculture and light industry predominate, is heavily dependent on investors and markets in the United States, Japan, and other imperialist countries. More than one-third of exports go to the United States. Markets in Western Europe take an equal amount. U.S. and Japanese firms are responsible for 22 percent and 20 percent respectively of the country's imports.

The country's currency has fallen in value from about 38 pesos to the dollar at the end of 1998 to 54 pesos today. The Philippines stock market also took a beating in the last year, reaching a 16-month low in April. At the start of that year the total foreign debt stood at $52 billion, or more than 75 percent of the annual gross domestic product.

One-third of working people live below the official poverty line, earning no more than $1 a day. Official unemployment, which understates the real figure, had risen to more than 13 percent by August of last year, up from 8.4 percent in July 1999. One Philippines businessman described the country as a "thin layer of rich and successful people floating in an ocean of absolute poverty."

Against this background of economic polarization and uncertainty, Estrada was increasingly depicted as ineffective and incompetent by his political opponents. In October, impeachment proceedings were launched in the House of Representatives, accusing Estrada of graft, of accepting bribes, and of violating the country's constitution. Protests numbering in the tens of thousands demanding Estrada's resignation were organized.  
 
Mobilizations in the streets called
Events sped up after January 16, when a narrow vote in the Senate halted the impeachment proceedings. As the head of the impeachment court and other prosecutors resigned in protest, the opposition leaders called for more street mobilizations.

Among those joining the actions were forces in the labor and student movements. Working people joined the opposition protests in large numbers. One construction worker told reporters, "All that's left to do now is to put Estrada in jail."

On the day of Estrada's resignation, former presidents both Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos were joined by military officers, ruling-class politicians, and Cardinal Jaime Sin in front of the jubilant crowds.

The U.S. embassy in Manila released a statement welcoming the new head of state. "We have had an exceptionally strong working relationship with new President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the past, and are looking forward to working with her to strengthen U.S.-Philippine relations even further," it read.  
 
 
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