When the common tao speaks: Erap's conviction won't bring food to our table

Unlike the action movies this actor-turned-politician starred in, he does not always emerge victorious. And like the audience going out of the cinema house, they digest and enjoy the memory of the movie as they quietly go back to the real world – where the action hero's victory nor defeat can alleviate their hunger nor fix their roofs.

Deposed President Joseph Ejercito Estrada was convicted last September 12 of plunder and aquitted of perjury in a six-year trial that jolted different reactions – from hurrahs to tears – from loyalists and enemies, political and otherwise.

Estrada was convicted of plunder and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 40 years in prison, while he was acquitted of perjury for allegedly false items in his statement of assets.

Cinematic or not, Estrada was seen bowing his head after his conviction was announced. A little later in the evening, ABS-CBN showed footages of the women of his life – her only daughter with Senator Loi Ejercito, Jacqueline Ejercito-Lopez and celebrity friends and former lovers-- sobbing in disappointment while his wife Loi was shaking with fury at what the Ejercitos call a "political decision".

The reports in the next few days were all about reactions of Filipinos from the different sectors. All around the world, Filipinos had much to say on former President Estrada’s conviction. Migrant workers in Dubai and Milan, as different as the cultures and climates are in these two countries, had different reactions.

One OFW in Dubai said “Bakit si Erap lang?” while another asked if this was democracy had to offer – convicting a former official for plundering while acquitting him of lying. In Milan, one Filipino said “He deserved it,” whil e another saud that this was Estrada’s chance of starting over again, adding that “normal lang siguro iyon sa presidente, na minsan hindi gumawa ng mabuti (maybe this is normal with presidents; they can’t do good all the time).

A migrant worker in Sydney, Australia, however, said she pities Estrada and hopes his six years of house arrest is enough punishment already.

One Balikbayan in San Francisico, California meanwhile said, “the previous presidents, do you they are clear, not guilty? He (Erap) was just careless,” while a co-worker said “Masyadong mabigat ang ipinataw na parusa.”

While the Makati Business Club has already expressed its support and gratitude for the conviction because of the “good investment climate” it would give the country, a former sales lady in the Kingdom of Bahrain and who is now running a mini-grocery said Erap’s conviction could have an effect on the “little, hardworking, and often discriminated Filipinos abroad.”

She said that in her nine years of stay in Bahrain, employers get the impression that Filipinos are hardworking and honest, but when her bosses found out about Estrada’s plunder case in the Philippines, her employees started asking her if Filipinos are really thieves and liars.

“This conviction will have an impact on the moral, if not professional, relationship between foreign employees and OFWs, because in most countries, their leaders are their measure of morality. If our former president was convicted of plunder, it says a lot about our character as a people,” she said in Filipino.

Aurelia Tubig, 18 and a house helper, meanwhile said although she has only heard about the decision from the television, but hopes Estrada be let out soon.

“He stands for what the poor people in the country suffer – discrimination and conspired against by the rich and the powerful,” she said in Filipino.

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