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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| Who�s Afraid of Bro. Eddie? By Antonio C. Abaya Written June 21, 2005 For the Manila Standard Today, June 23 issue Never before in living memory has this country been pushed to the edge of self-destruction as it has been in the past three weeks. Whoever is manipulating all this has succeeded enormously in stripping President Arroyo and her government of the last semblance of credibility and moral ascendancy. She has become a hate object, the butt of text and email jokes, the target of derisive contempt and scathing insults. No national leader, male or female, can long stay in power carrying the baggage that she carries now. President Arroyo is teetering on the brink of the precipice. And the only force that seems to be keeping her from being pushed into the void is the restraint and reluctance, especially among the middle class, dictated by self-interest: if she falls into the void, so will the rest of the country. Unless���. Unless there is a credible and acceptable alternative leader or group of leaders who will provide the stability and the even keel to the ship-of-state in the coming storms, and the creative imagination to chart our way to a destination that we can all be convinced is our shared destiny. Do we have such a leader or group of leaders in our immediate future, such as next week or next month or next year? We probably do, but will he and they (never mind the �she� for the time being) emerge triumphant in the inevitable squabbles that will ensue from an extra-constitutional demise of the Arroyo Government? Different groups will have differing agendas as they jockey for pre-eminence in the inevitable power vacuum. And who will be the frontrunners in this jockeying for pre-eminence? In my column of June 01, I had mentioned that a five-person revolutionary council is being bruited about as the most likely core of a revolutionary government that will take-over if President Arroyo is forced out of power. But I did not name names. In her June 14 column, Inquirer columnist Belinda Olivares-Cunanan, an unabashed defender of and apologist for President Arroyo, named four of those five: supposedly Susan Roces, Sen. Loi Ejercito, Fortunato Abat and Renato de Villa. Cunanan pointedly excluded the rumored fifth, Evangelist Eddie Villanueva. Why she did not want to mention Villanueva at all is significant. Villanueva is the only one among the five who can excite and motivate a million people or more to attend a political rally at the Luneta, as he in fact did in the last days before the May 10 presidential elections in 2004. In other words, Villanueva is an actual potential threat, in fact THE only actual potential threat, to the Arroyo presidency, in terms of People Power mobilization. No wonder Arroyo-apologist Cunanan dared not mention his name. Susan Roces can also draw a million people, but for an entirely different reason: out of sympathy for the death of her husband, FPJ, beloved of the star-struck masa and victim of massive fraud in the 2004 elections. A combination of Villanueva and Roces � not necessarily as presidential and vice-presidential candidates � would be a potent political force. Ms. Roces has repeatedly said she is not interested in entering politics and that a woman should not lead this country again. My information is that she and Villanueva have actually met and that she has explicitly deferred to Villanueva as the next leader of this country. And this is not a sudden comradeship born out of the exigencies of the moment. In the funeral services for FPJ last December, at which politicians were pointedly barred from speaking, Villanueva and his religious group were the only �outsiders� allowed to participate. Villanueva, for his part, showed considerable political and mobilization skills in the 2004 elections, more than what the end results would indicate: he came out last in a field of five, after GMA, FPJ, Lacson and Roco, in that order. A Villanueva-Roces combination would draw support from both the under-class and the middle and upper classes, which neither Erap nor Abat nor FVR nor the communists nor any of the trapos and family dynasts can match. In presidential surveys in December 2003, Villanueva was getting only one percent. But this percentage kept on growing every month, until it reached five percent in the Pulse Asia survey of April 26-29 (with 9% undecided) and four percent in the SWS survey of May 1-4 (with 12% undecided). His Luneta rally of May 6, a few days before Election Day, drew an estimated one million supporters, filling the park from the Quirino Grandstand to the Rizal Monument, by far the biggest rally for ANY candidate in the ENTIRE 2004 campaign. In the SWS exit poll of May 10, Villanueva drew five percent (with 8% giving �no answer�). In the last publicly released Namfrel count of June 5, based on election returns from 79.21% of the precincts, Villanueva got 6.16% of the votes (versus 6.97 for Roco, 10.85 for Lacson, 36.97 for FPJ, and 39.05 for GMA). So, from one percent in December to more than six percent in May, Villanueva�s share of supporters grew by more than 500% in only five months. Even granting that he was starting from a lower base, the growth of his support base was still phenomenal if you consider that support for Lacson actually decreased minimally during that period, from 13 to 11%, and so did support for Roco, from 16 to 6%, because of his illness. Villanueva benefited from crossovers from Roco, as well as from many disaffected middle and upper class voters who could not stomach the idea of supporting either GMA or FPJ. And, of course, his biggest support base were the members of his charismatic religious group. What held them together was Villanueva�s rallying cry for a righteous leadership to extirpate the culture of corruption. And if the elections had been scheduled for, say, September, instead of May, the growth momentum of his support base would have catapulted him above Roco and Lacson and would probably have placed him within striking distance of the presidency. He just plain ran out of time in 2004. Is he now, in 2005, a political has-been, as another Arroyo defender in media describes him? That remains to be seen, if he were now to decide to flex his political muscles. Unless proven otherwise, Villanueva, supported by Ms.Roces, remains the only real potential threat to GMA, on the basis of mobilization capability and the broad spectrum of his support groups.. By contrast, the others in Cunanan�s four � Loi Ejercito, Fortunato Abat and Renato de Villa � are no threat to anyone except to themselves, assuming they are indeed members of the putative revolutionary council, which is by no means certain. Collectively, they could not draw 5,000 people to the Luneta even if they were to announce that they would sing and dance stark naked at the Quirino Grandstand. Whoever is/are manipulating this train of events, he/they should realize that he/they need Villanueva-Roces on his/their side more than Villanueva-Roces need him/them on theirs, to attract the strongest support from the broadest sectors for a revolutionary council. Who�s afraid of Brother Eddie? Everyone with a moist eye on Malacanang including its present occupant. Reactions of [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �Who�s Afraid of Bro. Eddie?� To be honest with you, I still like Arroyo running the country. The country will get worse if she steps down. We all know that she is trying to clean the government, but poor little Gloria is not big enough to do what she wants to do to serve the people. Nobody can change the way the government runs, unless the president replaces all the people who are running the government, because these people are the ones corrupting the government. In short, the country will never be lifted up from where it is now. Another point, as long as there are oppositions, and these oppositions put down the president, nothing can be done to help our country. Only the Filipino people can help themselves. If the Filipino people don�t help the president, nothing is possible. Ferrer Genny, [email protected] June 23, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Great forward, Mr. Abaya! Please continue sending these types of email... and be rest assured, that I will forward these to the faculty of De La Salle University! Paul Nino L. Meim, [email protected] Director for External Affairs & Consulting College of Computer Studies, DE LA SALLE UNIVERSITY June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Eddie Villanueva may be God's big surprise for the country after PGMA. With the present electoral system, he won't win. Never! He does not have the money to grease nor the gall to corrupt others. If ever PGMA talked to Garci, then I have lost my trust and confidence in her. If she really trusted God for the highest office, a phone call should not have been necessary. If she did rang him up, then she trusted man more than God whom she invoked on many speeches. Of course, as in some countries where leaders are staunchly honest and with impeccable integrity, they get redeemed by a mere "sorry" over national TV. I am not sure if we have such a leader here. If not guilty, fine. Only one's self and the Almighty know the truth. And one can only be true or a cheat to oneself. I salute her if after all the investigations, she would come out clean. But my respect and admiration for her will be even greater if she would, in magnanimity, apologize for a wrong thing done, once proven guilty, first by conscience, then by the duly constituted authorities. As of now, I am not passing any judgment. Only praying that God have mercy on the Philippines and on all of us, Filipinos or Pilipinos. Ano nga ba? Generoso Octavio, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Lacson's name is not also in the list. So who's afraid of Ping Lacson? Be not afraid! Huwag Matakot! Bruce Carolino, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Is the Philippines becoming a Country of Unfinished Presidencies or are the Filipino Leaders the World's Greatest Players of Musical Chairs? Eugene Ionescu could have written his Opus Magnus based on the Philippine condition. Frank Jimenez, [email protected] West Orange, New Jersey, June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, It will not be easy to make GMA to step down and relinquish the presidency just because a motley group of leftists, rightists, and some ambitious odd balls want her out. With the military loyal to her, bloodshed may not be avoided if GMA is taken out forcefully through extra-constitutional means, unless of course she resigns, but does that make everyone comfortable with Noli de Castro becoming President? Impeachment is also hard to imagine since GMA controls both houses of Congress, but if the impossible happens and GMA is impeached, we are back to square one with that nagging question: how comfortable are you with Noli. This is not to demean the Vice President, but people have differing perceptions. GMA has learned much from the lessons of Edsa 1, 2, and 3 and will not make the same mistakes that brought Marcos and Erap down. She has handpicked trusted men in the military and PNP leadership, just as retiring Chief of Staff Gen. Abu�s term was extended today, and she will rely on them if push comes to shove. Also, remaining passive are the real movers of 'people power', the middle class and big business, who are reluctant to change leaders for fear of losing the early gains of an economic recovery, and worse if a junta is installed as another failed governance is certain in the hands of dubious and ambitious opposition personalities. Some say that Eddie Villanueva and Susan Roces may have the numbers to bring out the warm bodies, but so long as the military remains loyal to GMA all their efforts are futile. Finally, didn't Roces tell whistle-blower Sammy Ong, who begged her to help bring down GMA, that it was her late husband FPJ that she wanted to be President? And rightly so, why should she allow herself to be used by the ambitious Tom, Dick and Abat so they will become President at the expense of her husband. Villanueva's teaming up with Roces may also spell problems for him because Roces followers are basically Erap loyalists and it is unlikely that they meet the criteria to win the support of the real movers of 'people power'. Do you still wonder why the people in general have not heeded the call of a few to change the leadership? Cesar M. De los Reyes, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Susan Roces, Sen. Loi Ejercito, Fortunato Abat and Renato de Villa , and Bro Eddie. And there will be a junta? And you think the country will be more credible with that kind of leadership getting into power thru a coup type maneuver? Are you crazy? Get your head together man. You are really grasping at straws. Is that the best leadership you can think of? Its bad enough that there seems to have been cheating in the election (uh...Is that something new?) BUT the country is still holding itself together, and we are still using the legal system, slow as it may be. Now, you are proposing that we shove that down the toilet too. Sorry, but where I agree with a lot of the stuff you write, I think this is downright dangerous for the country. You are lucky you live in the Philippines. In the kind of country you dream and write about in your imagination, these kinds of thoughts would land you in the slammer in no time flat! Peter Capotosto, [email protected] June 24, 2005 MY REPLY. Don�t you understand English? I wrote that Loi Ejercito, Fortunato Abat and Renato de Villa came from the Inquirer column of Belinda Cunanan. I wrote that these three �could not draw 5,000 people to the Luneta even if they announced that they were going to sing and dance stark naked at the Quirino Grandstand.� Did that sound like an endorsement to you? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I am middle class, or perhaps a wee bit upper. I have been to all Edsas and was even an almost communist in my younger days at UP. I am now approaching my senior years and looking back and around at the happenings in our country, I can only feel exasperated at how we Filipinos have mismanaged ourselves. What big idiots we are! I am no longer partisan as I feel that all parties; the administration, the opposition, the communists, the religious, and all the personalities hovering around have nothing to offer except the same idiocy that we have been subjected too. I used to support Gloria thinking that she is a big improvement over that ignoramus Erap. still an improvement but also a huge disappointment. The only reason I do not want her out is because there is no alternative. That is a common point of view nowadays. But reading your column, yes. Upon reflecting the circumstances that you mentioned, I think Brother Eddie is an alternative worth trying. Just hope that he keep the likes of Tatad, Maceda, Jinggoy, Rez Cortez, Satur, et al, out of smelling distance from him. We should get him to Malacanang posthaste. How do we do that? Is there a colonel or a major who can help come up with a coup? (Forget the generals, they are so entrenched already in their corruption). Perhaps in a next article, you can speculate on some scenarios of how it can be possible. Epi Espaldon, [email protected] Ayala Alabang, Muntinlupa City wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony: I'm not afraid of BRO EDDIE VILLANUEVA - Kasamang Eddie in the years longgone by, FQS, KM, Plaza Miranda, etc. Being a Bishop to the Flock of the LORD, he has moral and theological moorings. Having been a former KM Spokesman, he has the ideological background to really SERVE THE PEOPLE [STP]. He knows the historical roots of the Filipino society, be that analysis from JoeMa's Philippine Society and Revolution (PSR)- banish him (JMS) from your reading list! On the streets, the stage, the pulpit or TV, Bro/Ka Eddie is in his elements. NONE OF THE FOUR OTHERS MENTIONED IN THE JUNTA HAS THESE PLUS FACTORS. For truly he has renounced Chairman Mao and Chairman Joe Ma(o) and thrown them to the dustbin of history! Bishop EDDIE has now embraced the LORD and vowed to protect and lead His Flock. He has eschewed the Red Book and the PSR and immersed himself in the Holy Bible, the Word of the LORD! I only pray he rises up to our expectations. I am NOT AFRAID of Bishop or Ka EDDIE! He might be the Next Man of the Masses! Rene G. Tababa, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi, Mr. Abaya. I do admire you for your consistent stand on this issue. Nowadays people are looking for somebody to hold on to just in case this administration falls. I do feel the same way about Bro. Eddie as I had written in my last email. Gener Morada, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Of all the many suggestions being brought forward to arrest the continued demise of the Filipino as a self respecting people or even a race worthy to live on this planet, is the suggestion for us to follow the constitution and have the Senate President sit as acting President and a snap election held for the two positions. This of course assumes that both the President and the Vice President will perform this sacrifice and the Comelec will first be revamped by the acting President. From there, it will be our duty to ensure that clear, clean, transparent, honest-to-goodness elections are held all the way to its counting and proclamation of the winner, with the safeguards already in the laws actually followed and implemented. The current President and Vice President will also be allowed to participate in the snap elections but the acting President cannot. ... If we still fail to carry out this election as a credible one, then, perhaps it is the will of the gods... Nonoy Yulo, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The recent political events are but a manifestation that PGMA is really unfit to serve the country as President. The following are the reasons why the writer believes this is true:1) GMA assumed the office after EDSA 2, because the people found that Erap, his families and the people around him were too corrupt to be able to help our countrymen improve their lives. Notwithstanding the issues of constitutionality of GMA's assuming the Presidency, civil society and even a good number of the people accepted her, for she was perceived (and even promised) to rise to the challenge of upholding the very high standards of honesty, moral integrity, transparency, and a uncompromising political will, the absence of which led to Erap's ouster. But when the political opposition, who were all of Martial Law and Erap vintage, fielded a clueless and totally inexperienced, but extremely popular actor for their candidate, concerned voters and the business community opted to tolerate the political compromisesthat GMA had to make in order to increase her chances of winning. It was obvious that she was using government funds and government resources for hercampaign. As unacceptable as these were under normal circumstances, the contest was just too tight between her and FPJ (God rest his soul). So people allowed her such compromises, for the crocodiles who were poised to take advantage of FPJ, should he win, were just totally unacceptable to the informed voters and the business community. At least, GMA seemed like she was really bent on effecting real reforms if only she isgiven a legitimate mandate.2) However, upon being proclaimed as the 14th President of our Republic, she not only started to appoint questionable characters and replacing even many of the tested Cabinet members and GOCC heads who have proven themselves to be true public servants. Then on one of ANC's late night talk shows, the newly-appointed ( by PGMA) head of security (one of those honest retired generals) of Subic even said without hesitation that he gets letters of recommendations from Cong. Mickey Arroyo from known big-time smugglers. When Cong. Mickey was interviewed about this the following day, he said that he just gave letters of recommendations for his friends, but did not know that they were smugglers. A Congressman, lawyer, and a Presidential son, who has special access to information and intelligence reports, pretending not to know what "business" his friends were in? Is he stupid or is he stupid? One or two foul ups may be forgivable, but the Subic Head of Security said "several"! One can only wonder how exactly the letters of recommendations were worded. Malacanang somehow was able to prevent this issue from getting pursued further. But ANC should have archives of that show aired either late last year or early this year. So when Cong. Mickey was implicated by Archbishop Oscar Cruz's witnesses like Boy Mayor, as receiving monthly protection money from the jueteng lords, it was no longer a surprise to me, after the Subic smuggling expose.3) After the VAT bill was finally passed, PGMA told Congress that the next urgent agenda should be the Constitutional amendments that will be shifting our form of government from the Presidential to the Parliamentary. With all the political accommodations she has been making, with GOCC heads who diverted money from their budgets to fund her campaign and her tolerance of corruption by Congressmen (whose votes she will be needing), she is clearly already preparing to become Prime Minister after 2010. Don't believe her if she promises not to run. She promised not to run for President in December 2003, remember? How then can anyone reasonably expect her to even attempt to wipe out graft and corruption, when she needs to feed these greedy GOCC heads andcongressmen in order for her to attain her ambition of perpetuating herself in power? Ever heard of a congressman being investigated for unexplained wealth which they even arrogantly display publicly without shame? PGMA has become a master propagandist. With the untold millions of people's money spent hiring the best Public Relations experts, advertising executives and political strategists, she has indeed an arsenal of tricks which she can use when needed. It is not acoincidence for example that Tagonoy was released finally after 9 months from his Iraqi captors only 2 days ago, in the midst of the Congressional inquiries regarding the "Hello Garci" tapes. No matter how much they claim that no ransom money was paid, GMA is just too desperate for some diversionary "accomplishment" in an effort to improve her ratings. Noticed how Malacanang played it up in the media? Her statement that she will address the tapes issue at the "proper time" is an indication that she and her experts can't seem to find a way out of it and regain her credibility. It's so unnatural for any human being, much less a character like PGMA, to refrain fromdefending herself from accusations of such magnitude. And just look at how even the Justice Department was used to intimidate people and keep them away from the tapes. Do you remember how many times has PGMA has emphatically said that the Congress and the Justice Departments are co-equal branches in our "democratic" country? While it's true that the political opposition is trying to capitalize on this in order to grab power, it can't be denied that government corruption, smuggling, gambling (whether PAGCOR or illegal) political patronage, etc., have all drastically increased in her four years as President. She has broken all her promises of waging "all-out wars" against all sorts of problems that has beset our country for too long. We have seen enough of what she truly is. She is just one overly ambitious power-addict. There are two reasons why there has not been another EDSA People Power Revolution. People can't imagine how a Noli de Castro presidency can be a better alternative. And then among the political opposition, there is no one acceptable to the people. SenatorLacson might have been more acceptable, if only he has cut ties with Erap and has not welcomed the usual trapos in his newly formed "Fear Not" party. Abat was Chief of Staff during the Martial Law years, so he is even less acceptable, if at all. People want a strong leader. He must not be a trapo, he must be fearless in doing what needs to be done to really stop the corruption that is robbing the people of the money that is intended to improve their lives, he must not be a prisoner of public opinion, he mustbe a hands-on leader, he must have a record of unblemished and extraordinary accomplishments, he must be willing to try new things and correct or eliminatethem if they turn out to be mistakes, and he must not have links to the power brokers, oligarchs and crime syndicates. We don't have to look far. We already have somebody who fits the bill. His name is Bayani Fernando. Oh yes, he is not perfect, but so was LeeKuan Yew of Singapore and Dr. Mahathir of Malaysia. But the common things about the three of them are their passion to improve the lives of their countrymen and their willingness to admit their mistakes and then eliminate the mistakes, and their having retained unblemished reputations. To the clergy and our Church leaders, remember that the love of God can only be proven by the love of your fellowmen. The citizens and the military of this predominantly Christian country really value what you say or espouse especially in times of crisis like the one that is facing our country. Take your stand now, for the love of God, before things get out of hand. With the lowest ratings ever in history, the writer's opinion coincides with Tony Abaya's,that PGMA will not recover from these scandals. Act now before the undesirable elements are able to grab power from PGMA. As unpalatable as it may seem to sound, let us push for a revolutionary government, governed by a Council headed by Bayani Fernando, with Christian Monsod andHaydee Yorac as members. We already had an experience with a revolutionary government after EDSA 1, although the former President Aquino did not have the qualifications and capabilities to effect the changes that our people have long been clamoring for. Another revolutionary government will not be foreign to our people. Only this time, we will have more experienced and strong-willed people.By the way, the writer has not contacted Bayani Fernando, Christian Monsod, nor Haydee Yorac, for he does not know them personally. But they will be contacted as soon as possible. If we can get enough people to become aware of their capabilities and moralintegrity, then there is a big chance that they will agree to take up this enormous responsibility. For they have already shown us how much they love our country. Tessa Torreon, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Every crook in the country, in and out of government, is afraid of Eddie Villanueva, even those in the camp of Erap-FPJ/Susan Roces. However, I don't discount completely an alliance between the two and I agree with you that should these two decide to hold a rally, their followers would easily overfill the Luneta Park. Should that rally be sustained for a full week, something has to give, and we can kiss our PGMA goodbye. Ogie Reyes, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mister Abaya, I don�t know if people simply choose to ignore it but putting 2 and 2 together makes for some interesting discussion. On the question of who did the bugging. Through all this finger-pointing my best guess is the group of Senator Lacson. At the time that he headed an anti-kidnapping task force back when ERAP was still vice president Lacson's team was supplied with the best gadgets, including digital cellular eavesdropping equipment that mysteriously disappeared from their office when the task force was dissolved. As I recall the equipment was never found. On the question of who possessed the tapes. My best guess is the opposition through Lacson. Assuming that the tapes are real then the opposition knew exactly what provinces to name in their protest. Ergo they had the information very early on. What gets Lacson's goat nowadays is that it seems they they are already on plan B and still cannot seem to force things their way. The initial step was through official and through a judicial process that failed on the death of FPJ. The second plan was based on what to do with an illegal tape in their possession. Plan probably is to induce an uprising. That would be why they planned the revelation right after schools opened and timed it after the jueteng scandal. Just my two cents No name given, [email protected] June 24, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, Your observation and the succeeding events show that many of would be leaders are more interested in name and fame not to mention power that goes along with the position that they are willing to make deals and compromises often even against right moral and ethics. Hard it may seem, hopefully our leaders realize theirimmortality and do what is right to bring the country to the right road of prosperity and peace. Until then, it will always be clashes of selfish interest and the country will continue to suffer. Jesse Alto, [email protected] June 25, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww So,who's afraid of Bro.Eddie? Though in my mind I would cast my vote in favor of GMA during last year's presidential elections, I voted for Bro. Eddie Villanueva for the presidency, never mind if he got two votes or three in our precinct. We voluntarily campaigned for him in the streets, places of work and even at home. We even bought campaign materials at his official headquarters along Pasay Road, Makati because we feel that he is the only candidate best prepared to move this nation on track for once and all. I see his sincerity and felt his genuine concern for this great nation to move forward, for millions of jobless Filipinos and families here and abroad to finally have a last string of hope to hold on. I have found in him a moral and righteous leader who can rejuvenate our moral fiber and resuscitate our ailing economy. I am a Roman Catholic and just like those voted for him who belong to a colorful swath of various religious, civic, NGOs, government & private sectors, I voted for him because he symbolizes a rainbow of hope and prosperity for the country being a God-fearing leader him self and the only candidate who can articulate his platform of government in a one-on-one live tv interview. But time was not on his side, you are absolutely correct. Bro. Eddie is a shoo-in as a member of the Truth Commission, if it transpires. Then he may run as Vice President or Senator as the logical preparation on the road to presidency. Niel Narca, [email protected] June 28, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, I think your analysis on the Villanueva-Roces tandemis very interesting. You're the only one who have the guts to come out with an unbiased analysis of events. With GMA's admission of guilt, your analysis might really come to pass. Hopefully, our country will finally get a respite from selfish people who are concerned only about themselves. Thanks. More power to you. Estela de la Paz, [email protected] June 28, 2005 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |