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Despite her personal battle against colon cancer, former President Corazon Aquino has reassured the public of her full support in the fight for truth on allegations of rampant corruption in the administration.

For the first time in seven weeks, Aquino missed the Sunday Mass for Truth, Accountability and Justice that she initiated last Feb. 17 in support of Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr., key witness in the anomaly in the canceled $329-million national broadband network (NBN) project.

This developed as pardoned former President Joseph Estrada urged the new graduates in two universities in Camarines Sur to rally behind Lozada in his quest for the truth about the alleged overpricing and bribery in the NBN deal between the government and ZTE Corp. of China.

Mrs. Aquino sent her message to Lozada and their supporters at the Mass held at the Immaculate Conception Parish of the Manila Cathedral School in Tayuman in Tondo, Manila through her two grandsons, Jiggy Cruz and Kiko Dee.

“We are here to tell you – especially Mr. Jun Lozada – that our grandmother still supports you. Just like you, we draw our strength from her,” Cruz told hundreds of faithful who attended the Mass.

In an interview with reporters after the Mass, Mrs. Aquino’s grandson revealed that her health has been “improving” since last week when she was diagnosed with colon cancer and started undergoing chemotherapy.

“She’s improving and she has better appetite now,” Cruz bared.

Lozada, who usually received words of encouragement from Mrs. Aquino in past Masses for truth, could not help but miss the former president.

“I feel abandoned now. I remember she would always tell me to be strong for my family and for my country,” he said in his speech after the Mass.

Lozada admitted he personally admires Mrs. Aquino.

“Even if she’s already hurting, she still thinks of our nation. I hope we pray for her,” he said.

A special moment for prayers for the speedy recovery of the former president was allotted during the Mass.

Lozada also alleged that the administration continues to threaten him. He said this was apparent when several policemen arrived at schools he visited last week.

He also said pamphlets were distributed in Tondo and Cebu City to destroy his character.

But the former environment official said he was prepared for such threats and character assassination.

“Tita Cory told me that I should be strong because more of these would come if the people won’t start to act,” Lozada said.

“Now I understand what is the purpose of these sufferings. Maybe I am an instrument to let the Filipino people open their minds on the reality of corruption in government and society,” he said.

Yesterday’s Mass, the seventh in a series of nine which coincided with the Catholic celebration of the Feast of Divine Mercy, was attended by some 1,000 faithful.

In the homily, parish priest Msgr. Claro Garcia urged the public to remain vigilant, especially against corruption in government. He said officials involved in such practices should not be tolerated but instead punished for their acts.

After the Mass, Lozada went to the Lupang Pangako Parish in Payatas, Quezon City for a forum.

Next week’s Mass for truth will be held at the Holy Trinity Parish in Balic-balic in Sampaloc, Manila.

According to the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines, they have already collected over P2.4 million in donation for the sanctuary fund for Lozada.

Vanguards of truth

In two separate speeches Estrada delivered before graduates of Partido State University in Goa and at the University of Saint Anthony in Iriga City, both in Camarines Sur, he said the new graduates should become vanguards of truth.

“The new graduates must be vigilant and be vanguards of truth. I am urging them to support Lozada and the people’s quest for truth about the anomalies that hound the NBN deal,” Estrada said.

Estrada said that he was saddened by the apparent conspiracy of big businessmen, segments of the Catholic Church, corrupt politicians, and the military to oust him in 2001.

“I cannot come to terms that I was removed only to be replaced by a corrupt dispensation which, to this very day, refused to be accountable and to be transparent before our people. It has refused to explain itself even as it had practically sunk you and me, your

children and grandchildren, the coming generation of Filipinos in the mire of debt and penury in the years and decades to come,” Estrada said.

Estrada said he will continue to lead an intensified campaign for truth about the NBN deal and fight corruption in government, especially that former President Aquino is now ill.

“The campaign and our search for truth will continue. It does not matter to me if they will jail me again as long as our goal to find out the truth will succeed,” Estrada said.

Estrada went to the University of Iloilo in Iloilo City last March 28 and proceeded to the Bicol region where he was invited as guest speaker of the commencement exercises in Partido State University and the Saint Anthony University, as part of his campus tour nationwide.

House Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella handed over to Estrada a plaque of recognition, which was initiated by the town council of Tigaon, Camarines Sur, during simple rites in recognition of Estrada’s valuable assistance in building a new municipal hall.

The old Tigaon municipal hall was destroyed by typhoon “Loleng” in 1998.

source: (STAR) By Edu Punay -

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