01/22/2008
The Edsa ll crowd was made up of students from the Catholic schools who were ordered by Sin to come to Edsa and provide the warm bodies, Estrada said in an interview with the daily tribune.
In an article published in tribune, former President Estrada warned the Catholic Church not to meddle in choice of opposition bloc bet. He also lambasted Edsa 2 as a conspiracy using the students from Catholic and other schools instigated by a Church-elite conspiracy following a report from the Philippines Daily Inquirer yesterday.
“That was not a popular uprising. That was not the voice of the Filipino people. That was a coup d’etat against me and my government,” he said.
Mrs. Arroyo, also in early 2001, admitted to a group of civil society supporters that she, along with the military and police officials, plotted a coup to oust Estrada a year before the ouster. Her admission is caught in videotape.
_________________________
Vindicated Estrada warns bishops:
‘Don’t meddle in choice of opposition bloc bet’01/22/2008
Former President Joseph Estrada, aware of the ways of Church meddling in political affairs by Church leaders, especially the Catholic bishops, yesterday warned them against meddling in the selection of a united opposition’s presidential and vice presidential candidate for the 2010 elections, following a newspaper report that the late Jaime Cardinal Sin disobeyed a Vatican order for him and the Catholic bishops of the Philippines not to meddle in politics and not to engage in ousting the then sitting president.
The Daily Tribune, in late 2000, bannered a report culled from the “confidential memorandum” submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs by then ambassador to the Vatican, Henrietta de Villa.
In it, she stated that the Vatican was strongly opposed to the position of the Catholic bishops in the Philippines to move for the ouster of Estrada, taking the position that Estrada was a popularly and democratically elected president supported by the people and that the church people should not engage in political matters, expressing fear that the Catholic faith would be eroded.
After seven years, a newspaper reported that Sin had opposed the Vatican Order and went ahead to call for the ouster of Estrada.
The Tribune in 2000, reported that “the Vatican is opposing the local Roman Catholic Church’s active participation in calling on Filipinos to oust President Estrada, saying such outspokenness is putting the entire church in a “precarious” situation, a report from the Philippine Embassy in the Holy See disclosed.
“Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa reported that the Vatican is “very concerned” with the Philippine church’s involvement in the move to boot the President (Estrada) out of Malacañang.
“In Manila, the church’s cause was further doused by an admission from its Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that Mr. Estrada still enjoys popular support among the Filipinos.
“The charges against the President and (the) popular support (for him) show how formidable the task of renewing political life is, even as the church beats its own breast in saying mea culpa for whatever responsibility it may have had for social and political evils,” Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, CBCP president, said.
“The Holy See believes that the position taken by the local clergy could affect the church itself, the country and the presidency negatively, De Villa also reported.
This, according to the Philippine envoy, was expressed by the Vatican during a private meeting last Dec. 12 with Msgr. Luis Montemayor, head of the Asian Desk in the Second Section of the Vatican’s Secretariat.
“The Vatican believes that respect should be accorded the Constitution and the legal processes as well as the Office of the President since these are the symbols of a democratic system that cannot simply be discarded or tampered with regardless of who holds that office as long as he was elected freely and fairly by the people,” a part of the report said.
“The Vatican also stressed that it is “dangerous” for the Church to be a party to destabilization moves especially since there is no guarantee that succeeding events in the Philippines would not develop into violence.”
“De Villa said the Vatican has been communicating with Archbishop Antonio Franco, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, to relay the reactions of the Holy See to the current political developments in the country to the Manila archbishop.”
The Inquirer report also stated that then Supreme Court Associate Justice Arturo Panganiban acted as mediator between Vatican and the cardinal.
Sin and his bishops ignored the Vatican order and actively mounted a coup d’etat against Estrada, along with then Vice President Gloria Arroyo, the military generals and even Supreme Court justices.
It will be recalled that both Panganiban and then SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide were aware of the fact that Estrada had not resigned and was still in Malacañang, but Davide went on to swear in Mrs. Arroyo as president, despite the fact that there was no vacancy in the high office.
“I am now being vindicated,” he told the Tribune. “The truth is now coming out.”
At the same time, Estrada warned the Catholic Church not to interfere in the selection of the political opposition’s candidate for the 2010 polls.
“In 1998, the Catholic Church was engaged in destroying my candidacy. They (bishops) even came up to tell the nation not to vote for me. ‘Anybody but Erap’ was their battlecry. They didn’t want to see me in Malacañang. But the Filipino people voted for me. They should respect the voice of the people. But even in 2001, they did not respect the voice of the people, which is the voice of God,” Estrada said, stressing that it is the Church that always says this.
Estrada also complained that even as the bishops in 2001 claimed that it was corruption in his government that made them go against him, he wondered aloud why the bishops today maintain silence over the same issues that are even graver than during his time.
“There is more than enough evidence of corruption and immorality in the Arroyo government, but the bishops have not come up with any pastoral statement calling on the government to account for its sins, even on the Hello Garci cheating in 2004,” Estrada pointed out.
“True, the Catholic Church should not interfere in political matters. There is a clear principle separating the Church and the State. They can speak out on matters of morality. But in the case of the Arroyo government, they say nothing about the lying, cheating and stealing and the many scandals that have erupted. Why is their (bishops’) treatment very different today?” Estrada asked.
Speculations are rife that Estrada will be running for the presidency in 2010, even as Estrada has denied that he has plans to run for the top post at this time.
He has been quoted as saying however that he wants just one candidate to run as the opposition standard bearer, rather than have several bets from the opposition camp, saying more candidates will make cheating easier in 2010 for the presidency.
But he has also said that if the opposition fails to unite behind one candidate, he make a run for the presidency.
But it appears that even Malacañang is interfering in the affairs of the opposition, as yesterday the Palace called on Estrada to to “gag” Makati City Mayor and United Opposition president Jejomar Binay.
In a phone interview, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said the opposition was given time to substantiate the Hello-Garci wiretapped scanda.
“Mayor Binay had been reviving old issues that is causing division of our people,” he said. “What is their proof? A spliced tape (Hello-Garci)? There’s no original tape there’s a lot from them (opposition) claiming to have an original tape but there was none. There was a hearing conducted in the House but what was played (for congressmen to hear) is different a spliced tape,” he said.
Apostol said Binay was only politicking to boost his presidential bid in 2010.
“The Hello-Garci issue was already been settled. There was an impeachment but it failed in the House. So, its high time for us to move on and let’s stop looking at the past. Binay is losing new issues to throw against the President,” he stressed.
Apostol said they are calling on former President Estrada to gag Binay.
“Erap should reprimand Binay to stop dividing the country, stop talking. Binay is not helping his own presidential bid. Let’s concentrate on how we could move this economy forward,” he said. With Sherwin C. Olaes and Tribune wires
The Edsa ll crowd was made up of students from the Catholic schools who were ordered by Sin to come to Edsa and provide the warm bodies, Estrada said in an interview with the daily tribune.
In an article published in tribune, former President Estrada warned the Catholic Church not to meddle in choice of opposition bloc bet. He also lambasted Edsa 2 as a conspiracy using the students from Catholic and other schools instigated by a Church-elite conspiracy following a report from the Philippines Daily Inquirer yesterday.
“That was not a popular uprising. That was not the voice of the Filipino people. That was a coup d’etat against me and my government,” he said.
Mrs. Arroyo, also in early 2001, admitted to a group of civil society supporters that she, along with the military and police officials, plotted a coup to oust Estrada a year before the ouster. Her admission is caught in videotape.
_________________________
Vindicated Estrada warns bishops:
‘Don’t meddle in choice of opposition bloc bet’01/22/2008
Former President Joseph Estrada, aware of the ways of Church meddling in political affairs by Church leaders, especially the Catholic bishops, yesterday warned them against meddling in the selection of a united opposition’s presidential and vice presidential candidate for the 2010 elections, following a newspaper report that the late Jaime Cardinal Sin disobeyed a Vatican order for him and the Catholic bishops of the Philippines not to meddle in politics and not to engage in ousting the then sitting president.
The Daily Tribune, in late 2000, bannered a report culled from the “confidential memorandum” submitted to the Department of Foreign Affairs by then ambassador to the Vatican, Henrietta de Villa.
In it, she stated that the Vatican was strongly opposed to the position of the Catholic bishops in the Philippines to move for the ouster of Estrada, taking the position that Estrada was a popularly and democratically elected president supported by the people and that the church people should not engage in political matters, expressing fear that the Catholic faith would be eroded.
After seven years, a newspaper reported that Sin had opposed the Vatican Order and went ahead to call for the ouster of Estrada.
The Tribune in 2000, reported that “the Vatican is opposing the local Roman Catholic Church’s active participation in calling on Filipinos to oust President Estrada, saying such outspokenness is putting the entire church in a “precarious” situation, a report from the Philippine Embassy in the Holy See disclosed.
“Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican Henrietta de Villa reported that the Vatican is “very concerned” with the Philippine church’s involvement in the move to boot the President (Estrada) out of Malacañang.
“In Manila, the church’s cause was further doused by an admission from its Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) that Mr. Estrada still enjoys popular support among the Filipinos.
“The charges against the President and (the) popular support (for him) show how formidable the task of renewing political life is, even as the church beats its own breast in saying mea culpa for whatever responsibility it may have had for social and political evils,” Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, CBCP president, said.
“The Holy See believes that the position taken by the local clergy could affect the church itself, the country and the presidency negatively, De Villa also reported.
This, according to the Philippine envoy, was expressed by the Vatican during a private meeting last Dec. 12 with Msgr. Luis Montemayor, head of the Asian Desk in the Second Section of the Vatican’s Secretariat.
“The Vatican believes that respect should be accorded the Constitution and the legal processes as well as the Office of the President since these are the symbols of a democratic system that cannot simply be discarded or tampered with regardless of who holds that office as long as he was elected freely and fairly by the people,” a part of the report said.
“The Vatican also stressed that it is “dangerous” for the Church to be a party to destabilization moves especially since there is no guarantee that succeeding events in the Philippines would not develop into violence.”
“De Villa said the Vatican has been communicating with Archbishop Antonio Franco, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, to relay the reactions of the Holy See to the current political developments in the country to the Manila archbishop.”
The Inquirer report also stated that then Supreme Court Associate Justice Arturo Panganiban acted as mediator between Vatican and the cardinal.
Sin and his bishops ignored the Vatican order and actively mounted a coup d’etat against Estrada, along with then Vice President Gloria Arroyo, the military generals and even Supreme Court justices.
It will be recalled that both Panganiban and then SC Chief Justice Hilario Davide were aware of the fact that Estrada had not resigned and was still in Malacañang, but Davide went on to swear in Mrs. Arroyo as president, despite the fact that there was no vacancy in the high office.
“I am now being vindicated,” he told the Tribune. “The truth is now coming out.”
At the same time, Estrada warned the Catholic Church not to interfere in the selection of the political opposition’s candidate for the 2010 polls.
“In 1998, the Catholic Church was engaged in destroying my candidacy. They (bishops) even came up to tell the nation not to vote for me. ‘Anybody but Erap’ was their battlecry. They didn’t want to see me in Malacañang. But the Filipino people voted for me. They should respect the voice of the people. But even in 2001, they did not respect the voice of the people, which is the voice of God,” Estrada said, stressing that it is the Church that always says this.
Estrada also complained that even as the bishops in 2001 claimed that it was corruption in his government that made them go against him, he wondered aloud why the bishops today maintain silence over the same issues that are even graver than during his time.
“There is more than enough evidence of corruption and immorality in the Arroyo government, but the bishops have not come up with any pastoral statement calling on the government to account for its sins, even on the Hello Garci cheating in 2004,” Estrada pointed out.
“True, the Catholic Church should not interfere in political matters. There is a clear principle separating the Church and the State. They can speak out on matters of morality. But in the case of the Arroyo government, they say nothing about the lying, cheating and stealing and the many scandals that have erupted. Why is their (bishops’) treatment very different today?” Estrada asked.
Speculations are rife that Estrada will be running for the presidency in 2010, even as Estrada has denied that he has plans to run for the top post at this time.
He has been quoted as saying however that he wants just one candidate to run as the opposition standard bearer, rather than have several bets from the opposition camp, saying more candidates will make cheating easier in 2010 for the presidency.
But he has also said that if the opposition fails to unite behind one candidate, he make a run for the presidency.
But it appears that even Malacañang is interfering in the affairs of the opposition, as yesterday the Palace called on Estrada to to “gag” Makati City Mayor and United Opposition president Jejomar Binay.
In a phone interview, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol said the opposition was given time to substantiate the Hello-Garci wiretapped scanda.
“Mayor Binay had been reviving old issues that is causing division of our people,” he said. “What is their proof? A spliced tape (Hello-Garci)? There’s no original tape there’s a lot from them (opposition) claiming to have an original tape but there was none. There was a hearing conducted in the House but what was played (for congressmen to hear) is different a spliced tape,” he said.
Apostol said Binay was only politicking to boost his presidential bid in 2010.
“The Hello-Garci issue was already been settled. There was an impeachment but it failed in the House. So, its high time for us to move on and let’s stop looking at the past. Binay is losing new issues to throw against the President,” he stressed.
Apostol said they are calling on former President Estrada to gag Binay.
“Erap should reprimand Binay to stop dividing the country, stop talking. Binay is not helping his own presidential bid. Let’s concentrate on how we could move this economy forward,” he said. With Sherwin C. Olaes and Tribune wires
1 comment:
I was in EDSA when Erap stepped down.
Catholic schools ang nandoon? I'm not very sure of that. As far as I can recall, members of Couples for Christ were among the first ones to go there, and were among the last ones to clear the area. Then I saw others there too, who looked like businessmen, employees, masa, etc. I do not recall any group in particular representing a Catholic school, like, hey, "taga-Ateneo kami." Lahat ng edad nandon, e.
(Di ko pinagyayabang na maraming Couples for Christ na nandoon. Samakatuwid, ang pagsali ng aming community do'n ay naging dahilan kung bakit merong iba sa amin ay nanghina sa pagdududang pumasok na kami sa politika. Kinukuwento ko lang na yon ang naranasan ko.)
Defense mechanism na lang ni Erap ang sabihing pinagkaisahan sya ng mga Katoliko. Ang totoo, talaga namang di na kanais-nais at bulgaran na ang mga pinag-gagawa nya non, e.
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