CORY: JUN YOU ARE
NOT ALONE
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - Former President Corazon Aquino talks with Rodolfo Lozada Jr. as they
wait for the start of a Mass at the De La Salle Greenhills gym in Mandaluyong
yesterday. Photo by MANNY MARCELO]
MANILA, FEBRUARY 18, 2008 (STAR) By Non Alquitran and Edu Punay - Dusting off an old catch phrase that helped topple a dictator, former President Corazon Aquino urged the Filipino people yesterday to unite for the future and support witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.
During a Mass attended by some 3,000 protesters from various sectors, including priests and nuns, businessmen, and officials of different civil society organizations, Mrs. Aquino assured Lozada that he was not alone in his fight to expose corruption in government.
The former chief executive, who sat beside Lozada, said she asked him if he no longer felt alone, to which he replied, “Opo, ramdam ko po (Yes, ma’am, I can feel it.)”
Organized by the Black and White Movement, the Mass focused on the theme “Do what is right, Walk in the light,” and was highlighted by criticisms of widespread corruption in President Arroyo’s administration.
Mrs. Aquino said Filipinos should accord Lozada the kind of support they had given her when her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was assassinated during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
Mrs. Aquino narrated she was very shocked and thought she was alone after the assassination of her husband. But when the people started pouring out in the streets expressing their support and rage against the Marcos regime, she summoned enough courage to stand up and went on with her journey, which eventually led to the downfall of Marcos.
“If it wasn’t for the help of the people I wouldn’t have found courage. Let’s unite for the future of our country and our children. If we can get together, we will see a brighter future for our country,” said the former president.
Wearing her signature yellow dress and a pin with a Philippine flag with the words “Jun Lozada, you’re not alone,” Mrs. Aquino said, “I have a confession: If I did not get your support at that time when Ninoy was killed, I’d probably won’t see myself here in our country today. Whenever I am asked why I continue to do this, I always say I have no choice because there’s only one country that I love,” Mrs. Aquino said.
“‘My only prayer and the prayer of many others is for the truth to come out,” added the former president.
Morally bankrupt
Meanwhile, outspoken Archbishop Oscar Cruz likewise joined the chorus of public dissent by declaring that the “national leadership was beyond redemption in its moral bankruptcy.”
Without naming President Arroyo, Cruz urged the government to take notice of the public anger.
“The court of public opinion has already formed a judgment. The general public appreciates credible individuals and simply uses common sense in firmly deciding who are truthful and who are liars, who are upright and who are corrupt,” Cruz was quoted as saying.
Although he was not speaking for the Roman Catholic Church, Cruz commands great respect and support, especially among anti-Arroyo groups.
“Long and deeply buried in a huge pile of rotten and rotting garbage, the ruling administration has become one big living infection already immune to remedial sanitation,” he added.
Wave of clamor
At least 60 former cabinet officials of the Aquino and Arroyo administration likewise echoed the sentiments of the people who trooped to the La Salle Gymnasium in Mandaluyong City, home of alleged bribe-taker former polls chief Benjamin Abalos, to show support for the beleaguered state witness.
Among those who joined the special concelebrated Mass to express their support to Lozada were: Sen. Franklin Drilon, Sen. Mar Roxas, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, former House speaker Jose de Venecia, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim, and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona.
Leaders of various groups, including Makati Business Club, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections and Transparency and Accountability Network, also attended the event.
Only one Catholic prelate, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, joined the Mass. He said his participation was “personal” and did not represent the Catholic hierarchy.
Jesuit Fr. Manuel Francisco, who officiated the Mass, lauded Lozada several times for telling the truth and setting a good example to Filipinos.
“Jun, we hope that by our presence here you may find some consolation. Jun be assured that your solitude is no longer isolation as we profess our solidarity with you. Di ka nag-iisa (You’re not alone). We are committed to stay the course and do our best to protect you and your family and the truth that you have proclaimed,” the priest said, drawing a loud applause from the crowd.
In a statement read by former Philippine ambassador to Washington Albert del Rosario, the group called on current officials “who can no longer endure this wrongful governance” to quit Arroyo’s administration. They also urged other officials with knowledge on any wrongdoing in the government to emulate Lozada.
Lozada had testified before the Senate Blue Ribbon committee on the national broadband network (NBN) contract of the government with China’s ZTE Corp.
During his various testimonies he alleged that the deal, originally pegged at $262 million, was overpriced by $130 million to accommodate the commission of Abalos.
Lozada profusely thanked Aquino for the support, as he vowed to go on with the fight.
Instead of commenting further on his testimonies on the ZTE deal, Lozada urged the crowd of about 4,000 to listen to the prayer read to him, which guided him to come out in the open and tell all regarding the botched ZTE-NBN deal.
The concelebrated Mass dubbed as “Misa ng Sambayanan para sa Katotohanan,” ended about 11 a.m. People raised their clenched fists as Freddie Aguilar’s song “Bayan Ko” played as a recessional in the background.
Tomorrow a “Truth and Accountability Mass” would be held at the Ateneo University along Katipunan Road in Quezon City at 6:00 p.m.
GMA safe for now
In Malacañang, officials appealed for calm amid protest actions calling for President Arroyo’s resignation and maintained that the courts and other legal institutions are the best venues for resolving the ZTE-NBN overpricing scandal.
However, a risk consultant reacting to the recent spate of protests said yesterday that the President’s position is safe for now.
Scott Harrison, managing director of Pacific Strategies and Assessments, said “it has to go a lot further than this before she has something serious to worry about. Today Cory (Aquino) did not call for Arroyo to resign, that’s significant.”
He said Mrs. Arroyo’s position would only be jeopardized if a senior member of the administration called for her downfall, or the Catholic Church spoke out strongly against her.
Meantime, Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, Dean of the San Beda Graduate School of Law, said Lozada’s statements are too serious that a thorough and expeditious investigation of the case is needed so that those who might have criminal or administrative liability may be dealt with in accordance to the law.
Aquino said that while Congress, according to the Supreme Court’s reading of the constitutional allocation of powers, has the task of oversight, “it clearly does not have the power to prosecute.”
“It stands to reason therefore that if what we wish – and that is what I ardently wish – is that the guilty be brought to justice, then the bodies that are vested by law with prosecutorial power, such as the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice, should, with due enthusiasm, transparency, efficiency and expeditiousness investigate the case, calling on Mr. Lozada perhaps as its principal witness,” Aquino said in a statement.
He, however, said he cannot join calls for Mrs. Arroyo’s removal from office since Lozada was not able to establish the culpability of the President in the alleged corruption surrounding the scrapped deal.
“I fail to see the connection between Mr. Lozada’s statements and what I consider precipitous calls for the President’s resignation,” he said.
“Public and political will-formation takes place through discourse, the assumption being that people are willing to be persuaded by the force of the better argument. I hope that this is true of us all,” he said.
He added “evicting an elective official from office —particularly the President —circumvents the demands of rational discourse. It is pure and simple strategic action. I opt for rational discourse. We should be mature; we can be mature.”
Aquino clarified that his views were personal and should not be imputed to San Beda College.
Deputy Presidential Spokesman Dr. Anthony Golez said while the Palace respects the position of some groups in supporting Lozada, the issue is now also being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice.
“The legal process would now lead us to the whole truth in order to put closure in this and maintain political and economic stability. Justice should never be based on emotions but to the required due process that is dictated by our Constitution. We urge our people to respect our legal institutions who will bring justice and closure to this issue,” Golez said.
On comments that Mrs. Arroyo has lost moral authority to govern, he pointed out the country achieved 28 consecutive quarters of economic growth, with 7.3 percent in 2007, highest in decades, under her administration.
He said one million jobs were created last year while poverty and unemployment went down as the peso strengthened.
“No immoral government can sustain these gains,” Golez said.
For her part, Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Lorelei Fajardo said the Mass at La Salle “is a democratic exercise of religious freedom. We all need a healthy dose of prayers. However, in searching the truth, we should have an open mind and exercise sobriety and fairness in appreciating the motives of certain individuals and groups.”
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye chided critics for twisting the explanation of the Catholic bishops on “communal action” as an invitation to “mass action.”
He noted separate interviews over Radio Veritas of Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi of Caceres where the two prelates explained that “communal action” in their earlier statement was about “reflection, discernment, as individual, as family, as committee.”
Bunye also quoted Legaspi, who once headed the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines as saying “We never said that (calling for mass action) in the statement.” – With Paolo Romero, AP