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Estrada salutes The scene could have been played in one of his old movies -- the aging leader paying tribute through a salute to men who lost their lives in the fight for freedom.
men who died in
Pearl attack
Just hours after landing
on Oahu, he pays his respects
at the Arizona Memorial
Estrada firm against Muslim secession
By Crystal Kua
Star-BulletinBut for former movie actor Joseph Estrada, his current role as president of the Philippines led him yesterday to a place often memorialized in movies and in the real life consequences of its crew.
Hours after stepping off a jetliner, the 63-year-old Estrada and his entourage of about 20 Cabinet members and staffers stepped solemnly aboard the USS Arizona Memorial, which sits above the final resting place of 1,177 crewman of the battleship that sunk during the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.
Before entering politics in the late 1960s, Estrada was an actor who starred in dozens of movies. His action roles -- that included a rebel fighter -- portrayed him at times fighting for injustice.
His political rise saw him elected San Juan mayor, senator and vice president. He was elected Philippines president in 1998.
While Estrada is the target of much criticism at home, yesterday he was whisked from destination to destination here like an important tourist.
In the late morning, Estrada attended a briefing and lunch hosted by Pacific forces commander Adm. Dennis Blair.
Then the group boarded two CINCPAC barges and arrived at the Arizona Memorial at about 1:20 p.m.
Estrada first took part in a ceremony in which an anthurium and ti-leaf wreath was placed in front of the names of the perished Arizona crewmen.
Estrada, dressed in a greenish suit, then paid tribute by giving them a military-style salute, nodding his head periodically.
He stepped back and saluted for a second time again.
Estrada, who did not say a word to reporters on board, then walked to the well of the memorial and dropped a single anthurium into the waters of Pearl Harbor.
The ceremonies lasted under 10 minutes.
Blair gave Estrada a tour of the memorial, apparently pointing out the locations of the different parts of sunken ship.
After staying on board for nearly 30 minutes, everyone in the group then hopped back on the barges and headed to Ford Island where they boarded three Black Hawk helicopters.
Estrada and those accompanying him took a tour of the Honolulu coastline by air before landing in Diamond Head crater where a motorcade was waiting.
Rebels who seek a separate Muslim state in the southern Philippines will not be allowed to secede from the nation, Philippines President Joseph Estrada told a Honolulu audience. Estrada firm against
Muslim secession in
the PhilippinesBy Mary Adamski
Star-Bulletin"I did not become president to preside over the dismemberment of our country; we are one nation," the president told 1,100 people at a Waikiki banquet last night.
"The problem can only be solved by a comprehensive political, economic, social and cultural approach. We will convert Mindanao into the main food basket of the Philippines and a cultural paradise. We will do this before I leave office in 2004."
Estrada cut short his visit to Hawaii, leaving early this morning rather than taking a rest day here on his way home from a meeting of 180 world government leaders at the United Nations and a visit with President Clinton.
Earlier yesterday, he met with Adm. Dennis Blair, commander of Pacific forces, and met Honolulu business representatives at a Washington Place reception.
"Unless peace reigns in our land, we can never create a climate conducive to business and economic growth," he said. "This is the reason I have shown a forceful stand against secessionist terrorist groups."
He told the crowd that the rebels have released their hostages, some of whom were held as long as 140 days. News reports indicate that some hostages are still held.
"What is happening in Mindanao does not reflect the overall peace and order in the rest of the country."
Estrada said that during his Washington visit, Clinton assured him that thousands of aging Filipino veterans of World War II will finally receive compensation and benefits for their service.
The president, a former movie star, had the audience roaring with laughter as he wove a humorous commentary in Tagalog into his prepared English remarks.
Roland Casamina, president of the Filipino Community Center, said Estrada made jokes about difficulties with the English language. "When he turned serious, he disproved the myth of his not being able to speak English."
Casamina, who is also president and chief executive of House of Finance Inc., said Estrada's government has succeeded in stopping corruption and kidnapping-for-profit by Chinese-Filipino gangsters.
"His concern for economic improvement came through."
Among the crowd clad in glittering gowns and starched barong tagalog shirts was 87-year-old Florencia Garcia, a retired cook, in a modest grey flowered dress. "I can't afford a ticket, but I would try my luck to see him." Garcia said she was Estrada's neighbor in San Juan, and her son was his liaison officer while Estrada served as mayor. "If I can see him, well and good. If not I'll just go home."
A Philippines consulate employee found Garcia a seat at the $50-per-head banquet at one of the tables underwritten by local Filipino organizations.
"Give him a chance to justify that he is for the poor," said Hawaii labor leader Orlando Soriano, who was acquainted with Estrada during his movie career in the 1970s. "People talk stink about him because of his movie career. Give him a chance to prove himself," said Soriano, president of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 5.
Estrada gave presidential citations to Gov. Ben Cayetano and state Supreme Court Justice Mario Ramil and Appelate Court Judge Simeon Acoba.
He said they "have set the tone for Filipino Americans to begin assuming leadership in government positions all over the United States."
Estrada told the supportive crowd, "We have only one enemy today, poverty." He urged the emigrants from the Philippines and Filipino Americans to help their homeland in that fight.
"We appreciate how you have helped so many in the Philippines for so many years with food, with medical missions, with the donation of books and computers."
He suggested that one immediate place to continue support is a government partnership with businesses to put 50,000 computers into high school classrooms.
LOS ANGELES -- An American investment firm has agreed to turn over more than $35.3 million sought by Filipinos who won a human rights lawsuit against the late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, a newspaper reported today. Plaintiffs against
Marcos will receive
$35 millionAssociated Press
Merrill Lynch Asset Management LP managed the assets from Arelma Corp., a Panamanian company that the plaintiffs claim was set up to conceal Marcos' millions.
The plaintiffs sued for the money Sept. 6 in federal court in Hawaii, where Marcos fled with his wife Imelda when he was deposed in 1986. He died in Hawaii in 1989.
After a closed-door meeting yesterday in the chambers of U.S. District Judge Manuel L. Real, Merrill Lynch agreed to let the judge decide who is entitled to the money, plaintiffs' attorney Robert A. Swift told the Los Angeles Times.
Merrill Lynch's corporate counsel, George Schieren, confirmed that the firm agreed to surrender the funds, which are in an account set up in 1972, the Times said.
In 1995, a federal court jury in Honolulu awarded victims nearly $2 billion for human rights violations during Marcos' regime. The verdict was upheld, but the 9,500 victims had trouble collecting. The Marcos family and Philippine government later agreed to pay $150 million to settle, but the plaintiffs still haven't seen any money.
Participants in the meeting declined to comment, saying they were barred by the judge from doing so.<