Protesters cheer as Philippine Marines guarding the Senate finally allowed them to proceed near the Senate building for a rally on the eve of the impeachment trial of Philippine President Joseph Estrada.

Dec. 6 — Hollywood scriptwriters couldn't have written it better. A president who used to be an action movie star, on trial for corruption and facing the prospect of evidence from at least three mistresses, a vengeful former drinking buddy...and his wife.

When Philippines President Joseph Estrada goes to trial Thursday before the Senate on corruption charges, he will also have notched up a first of a very dubious sort: his will be the first impeachment hearing in Asia of a sitting president.

But for the Filipino people, the events leading up to the trial has a vaguely familiar ring.

The impassioned public protests in the streets of the capital Manila call to mind the demonstrations in the mid-1980s when "people power" led to the ousting of colorful Filipino strongman Ferdinand Marcos.

This time though, the drama in Manila is playing out like more like a soap opera than a big screen blockbuster.

Estrada has reportedly fathered seven children with five women other than his wife.

This, in a predominantly Roman Catholic nation that stretches across 7,107 islands in Southeast Asia.

The story-line goes back to a press conference a few months ago, when Luis Singson, a provincial governor and former
Estrada drinking buddy announced that since 1998, he had collected $11.7 million in dirty money for the president.

Singson, the governor of Ilocos Su, said nearly $8.9 million of this amount were payoffs from operators of jueteng, an illegal lottery game particularly popular among the poor.

He also accused Estrada of skimming a cool $2.8 million off tobacco taxes.

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对于无数的菲律宾民众而言，这无疑是一个天大的好消息——沉迷于金钱，性与权力的总统埃斯特拉达终于要受审了。而且这次他还要面对两个他非常不愿意面对的人：他的夫人和前亲密的伙伴露易斯。

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scriptwriter [n] 遍剧
mistress [n] 情妇
vengeful [n] 复仇心重的，报复的
buddy [n] 密友，伙伴
notch [v] （常与up连用）赢得；记录
Filipino [n] 菲律宾人
oust [v] 剥夺，取代
blockbuster [n] 巨型炸弹

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