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Published on September 16, 2007

The decision of the Philippine anti-corruption court last week to sentence former president Joseph Estrada to life imprisonment for massive corruption should serve as a model for Thailand and other Southeast Asian nations to step up their efforts to bring corrupt politicians holding high-level posts in government to justice. The court's ruling should be taken as a stern warning to corrupt officials in high office that they could end up the same way.

To political observers in the Philippines, the sentence handed to Estrada was the most prominent job to date carried out by the special court that was set up exclusively to handle corruption cases among high-level government figures. While some see the landmark verdict as the people's victory, others want to use it as a catalyst to push the Philippine government into seriously pursuing legal actions against other corrupt politicians in power, including those in the cabinet of incumbent President Gloria Arroyo.

In its ruling last Wednesday, the court found Estrada, 70, guilty of plundering tens of millions of dollars in tax kickbacks and bribes. It sentenced him to life imprisonment and also ordered the confiscation of US$87 million (Bt29 billion) from his bank accounts, which had been frozen during the six-year trial. Estrada said the verdict "appeared to be a political move" that followed pressure from his arch-rival and successor Arroyo. He vowed to appeal the sentence.

The case has marked a bitter chapter in Philippine politics that began when the movie-star-turned-politician was ousted from power in 2001, a move that led to violent street protests. Estrada has accused the business elite, Arroyo and the powerful Roman Catholic church of conspiring against him because of his populist platform. He has said that he twice rejected offers from Arroyo to clear his name in exchange for him agreeing to live in exile.

Estrada, who made his name in more than 100 films over three decades, cultivated the image of an everyday man who spoke fractured English and was a champion of the poor. When he was elected in 1998, it was with the largest majority in the country's presidential history. During his presidency, Estrada managed to maintain all of the traits that made him a star and openly flaunted his hard drinking, womanising and gambling. He also retained a cluster of shady characters who helped him make policy decisions during late-night drinking sprees, what he often referred to as his "midnight cabinet". When he was ousted three years later, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets and laid siege to the presidential palace to try to reinstate him.

After his fall from power, Estrada initially retained his huge popularity among tens of millions of Filipino poor thanks to his populist policies, but his command of the faith of his supporters seems to have faltered of late as only a few hundred people rallied in his support when the court read out its verdict last Wednesday. While some said the low turnout of Estrada supporters might mean that the poor did not like him any more as they felt that he had used them for his political rise, others expressed doubt whether the case would ever change voters' thoughts about populism in politics.

Despite the court's action against Estrada, anti-graft crusaders in the Philippines have expressed concern that corruption in the government did not actually end when Estrada was ousted in 2001.

Transparency International, a leading global anti-graft organisation, recently said that corruption in the Philippines appeared to have worsened since President Arroyo took power in January 2001. Many corruption cases against high-level government officials are pending in court. Among the high-profile cases are corruption allegations against former justice secretary Hernando Perez and former agriculture under-secretary Joseline Bolante. Some of the cases were linked to President Arroyo's husband and her election campaign in 2004. The latest case involves graft allegations against the Communication Ministry's $330-million broadband-network deal with China's CTE Corp.