NEWSFLASH
EL SHADDAI JOINING EDSA SHRINE RALLY?
Manila, Nov. 3, 2000, Friday (STAR) - The pro-Estrada El Shaddai charismatic movement said yesterday it may join tomorrow’s mammoth prayer-rally at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City meant to pressure President Estrada to step down.
This developed as Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin enjoined the faithful to "save our souls" by joining the prayer rally.
El Shaddai spokesman Mel Robles, in a radio interview, said they may attend the rally if the organizers invite his group.
Robles did not say, however, if their leader, Mike Velarde, one of the President’s spiritual advisers, will also attend the occasion.
Fr. Robert Reyes of the militant GOMBURZA dared Velarde to use his clout on Mr. Estrada and advise him to resign.
Reyes noted that Velarde has remained silent on the raging debate on whether Mr. Estrada should relinquish the presidency.
Reyes also said that while Sin has been spearheading protest actions against the Estrada leadership, Velarde was even discouraging his followers from attending such activities.
Robles clarified that El Shaddai’s weekly prayer rally at the Luneta normally held on Saturdays has been moved to Sunday, but added that the postponement has nothing to do with the EDSA affair.
Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said she may meet soon with Velarde as part of her consultation process on the unfolding political upheaval. "It’s part of my consultation process. I consult with organized sectors and I ask for an appointment," she said.
Sin said the Filipino people will regain salvation through "fervent prayers and sacrifices."
"The mission for which the Lord has placed, and for which He keeps us on earth, is to save our souls, and by our good works to gain eternal life," the prelate said in his homily at a Mass for All Souls Day at his official residence at Villa San Miguel on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.
While Sin did not specifically mention the President, he was obviously referring to the Chief Executive whom he earlier asked to do sacrifice by relinquishing his post following charges that he received bribes from illegal gambling operators.
Sin has said the power of prayers would enlighten Mr. Estrada to voluntarily resign to save the national economy.
Sin’s call for the President to resign for alleged loss of moral ascendancy to lead gathered momentum as more and more people from various sectors joined in, including former Presidents Fidel Ramos and Corazon Aquino and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Sin defended alleged Church intervention in political affairs by saying the political crisis now sweeping the country also involves moral concerns.
Franciscan priests under the Order of Friars Minor (OFM) also stood up against the President saying his continued stay in office would merely aggravate the economic and political crises.
They believed that Mr. Estrada has lost his moral credibility to govern for alleged complicity in illegal gambling operations.
The broad alliance that spearheaded the Oct. 25 rally on Ayala Avenue in Makati City urged the people to join tomorrow’s prayer rally at the EDSA Shrine to be led by Sin.
"At a time when an immoral and discredited leader clings to power against the people’s will, responding to the Cardinal’s invitation becomes both a moral obligation and patriotic duty," said Fr. Joe Dizon, spokesman of the Estrada Resign Movement (Resign).
"By attending the Mass and joining the rally, we send a clear signal to the President that he cannot change our hearts and minds and that he must go," Dizon said in a statement.
"Each day that he clings to power, Estrada gives the people more reasons to press for his resignation or ouster. What is worse is that he and his henchmen are now shamelessly pointing at the people’s protests as the cause of the economic and political crises when he is the problem," Dizon added.
Meanwhile, Pampanga Gov. Lito Lapid, a member of the opposition Lakas-NUCD, has mobilized some 10,000 supporters in his province to stage a rally tomorrow to press for Mr. Estrada’s resignation.
Fourteen Lakas-NUCD mayors in Pampanga are also set to attend the prayer rally at the EDSA Shrine to provide moral support to the vice president, a province mate.
"The governor has categorically expressed his all-out support for Arroyo," said Alex Cauguiran, spokesman for the Coalition for the Ouster of Erap (CORE).
Lapid fell out of the graces of Mr. Estrada after he supported the presidential candidacy of former Speaker Jose de Venecia.
Former Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan said Lakas-NUCD is ready to mobilize its full force and join other groups and organizations in case another people power uprising erupts against the Estrada administration.
"We want to send a clear message to the President. We want him to save the country from economic disaster by resigning from his position," Cauguiran said.
Among the groups expected to participate in tomorrow’s protest action are the Akbayan, Bisig, Bayan, Move Clark Now, Pinoy Gumising Ka Movement, Gulugud Ning Mamamayang Angeles, Aguman de reng Maglalautang Kapampangan, Angeles City Urban Poor Alliance, Ugnayan, Workers Alliance of Pampanga, Concerned Citizens of Pampanga, Gabriela and various transport groups.
On the other hand, the pro-Estrada Save the Poor Movement (SPM) said the prevailing economic wounds were "self-inflicted" and were hurting only the poor.
SPM secretary general Lito Descallar said politicians created the economic woes that hurt majority of the people, mostly the poorer sector of society.
He urged the national leaders to mend their differences to end the crisis.
"To the ordinary man-on-the-street, the jueteng problem could not possibly bring about this kind of economic chaos. This poor man’s game had been with us for decades and it is common knowledge that political leaders from presidents down to the lowest barangay tanod had been on the take," Descallar said. MMDA prepares traffic rerout plan
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) will implement tomorrow a major rerouting scheme due to the prayer rally at the EDSA Shrine.
MMDA chairman Jejomar Binay said he will deploy some 500 traffic officers to manage and guide motorists and rallyists at the EDSA-Ortigas area.
Rally organizers have identified four major assembly points: SM Megamall Parking Area, Uni-Mart at Greenshills Shopping Complex, Meralco Avenue-Valle Verde intersection and the EDSA Shrine.
As the march begins, the MMDA will close to vehicular traffic the northbound lane of EDSA, along with eastbound lanes or Ortigas Avenue and Ortigas service road.
Ground level lanes of the EDSA-Ortigas intersection will also be closed to traffic, leaving only the flyover open for motorists.
Northbound vehicles must turn right on Ortigas Avenue, left at Green Meadows Avenue, left at Zebra Avenue/Temple Drive, right at Katipunan Avenue, then right at EDSA toward their destination. — Nestor Etolle, Sandy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano, Ding Cervantes
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