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PEACHES FOR
ERAP
NEWS RELEASE
22 February 2000
Women took calls from various sectors a step further today as GABRIELA trooped to the Batasan, urging congress to heed the demands for President Joseph Estrada's impeachment. Wearing peach-colored dresses, GABRIELA members presented their gift to congress: cans of ripe peaches all marked with "Im-PEACH Erap, now!"
"Estrada is not just ripe for impeachment, he is overripe, even rotting in Malacanang, and the stench is terrible. Worse, his regime is also seeing to the decay of the nation," GABRIELA Secretary General Liza Maza said.
"We hope that his gift will bring some wisdom to congress. The message of our gift is clear: we want congress to see the legitimacy and the urgency of our call to have Estrada step down from Malacanang. We want congress to take a stand and make the necessary moves toward Estrada's impeachment," GABRIELA said.
With the peaches, GABRIELA presented a proposal for Estrada's impeachment and a letter asking representatives to shun, for once, their political ambitions and affiliations to Estrada and listen to those whose votes gave them their seats in congress.
GABRIELA explained in the proposal that in Estrada's one and a half year in office, Estrada has proven himself to be extremely incompetent and unable to lead the country.
"Estrada has been repeatedly entangled in several scams involving the use of his office as channels of corrupt practices for the profit of influential friends, cronies and relatives. He is involed in several cases of influence peddling and misjudgment. He is putting the entire nation on sale for foreign capitalists. Most of all, his regime has spawned to life, unimaginable povety, injustice and degradation in the lives of many Filipino, especially among Filipino women. We do not want four more years of Estrada in Malacanang."
GABRIELA adds that "as Filipinos commemorate EDSA, we are all reminded of the strength that can emanate from a people irked and dissatisfied. It would do congress some good to submit to growing public discontent, and immediately act towards Estrada's impeachment."
"We hope that congress will imeediately take action and not allow these peaches to expire. We know that the Estrada-controlled Congress could have these peaches shelved, but at the rate the Estrada regime is going, its shelf life isn't going to be that long."##
