Philippines reflects during trial recess

Mr Estrada and wife, Luisa Ejercito, get into the festive mood

By John McLean in Manila

The impeachment trial of the Philippine president, Joseph Estrada, is going into a 10-day recess for Christmas and New Year.

The break gives the upper chamber of Congress - which sits in judgement on the president - as well as the Filipino public, an opportunity to assess the evidence heard so far.

Recess follows Ms Ocampo's bombshell on Friday

The prosecution is still in the process of presenting its case that Mr Estrada is guilty, among other things, of bribery and corruption involving millions of dollars.

The president has pleaded 'not guilty'.

After 12 days of hearings in the Senate, it has become apparent that it is not only president Estrada who is on trial - it is also the Philippines' 14-year-old democracy.

Breaking new ground

The country has already proved that it can appoint a president democratically, as it did two years ago when the voters elected Mr Estrada.

Now the opposition is trying to prove that the Philippines can justly and peacefully dismiss a president who has been accused of wrong-doing.

Opposing points of view compete outside the Senate

The impeachment trial is the first of its kind here, and this shows in the way that the procedure is made up as it goes along.

That has often meant lengthy delays for legal argument.

The integrity of the process has been called into question by allegations that police are monitoring the telephone calls of the prosecutors and senators, that there have been threats to the lives of witnesses and that evidence has been tampered with.

Partisan affair

Then, there is the widespread belief that the senators will decide Mr Estrada's fate not according to the evidence, but according to their political and personal loyalties.

Some opponents think he should make an "honourable" exit

However, both the government and the opposition still agree, at least for the moment, that an impeachment trial is a far better solution to the present political crisis than a revolution, like the one 14 years ago that deposed the last Philippine president accused of abusing his office, Ferdinand Marcos.

As for Mr Estrada himself, he has used the last of his weekly radio shows before Christmas to wish for a swift end to the trial, so he can quickly get back to work.

"Let them finish , whatever the charges are. We will accept them," he said.