Velarde defies Sin, won’t abandon Estrada

The spiritual adviser of President Estrada defied Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and vowed yesterday that he would never abandon the beleaguered Chief Executive.

Bro. Mike Velarde, leader of the Catholic fellowship El Shaddai, has refused Sin’s invitation for him and his flock to attend a prayer rally at Plaza Rajah Sulaiman fronting the Malate Church in Manila on Thursday.

Speaking before his flock during their weekly fellowship at Rizal Park in Manila last Saturday, Velarde said God has given him a message: "Do not explain (yourself) further. No one will listen to you. I will fight for you."

Velarde said: "No matter what the priests say, I will still follow God and the Church. You do not abandon the sinful. The sinful – you help them and uplift them."

Another Catholic organization also rejected Sin’s call for the faithful to join the prayer rally, which many believe will be the staging point for a planned anti-Estrada demonstration in front of the Senate on Thursday, the start of Mr. Estrada’s impeachment trial.

Members of the Catholic Vote Movement (CVM) lashed out at Sin and other Church leaders yesterday for pressuring President Estrada to resign even before the Senate could start the impeachment hearings against him.

Onofre Valdenor, CVM president, told reporters the President should be allowed to continue in office so he can fully implement the administration’s programs for the country’s economic growth.

"The President has been distracted over the past several weeks on his work by too much criticisms and rallies which are destructive and obstructions to our path to growth and progress," he said.

Valdenor said CVM members feel that Sin has intruded into the affairs of government after he had continuously alleged that the country’s economic problem is "getting worse by the day."

Valdenor said Sin has in effect "accused President Estrada" of failing to do his job to stem the economic downturn and has trespassed into purely governmental affairs.

"What is worse is that Cardinal Sin has been covering up his attack on President Estrada through religious dogmas and beliefs on mostly perceived sins of the President, which are already on the dock at the Senate," he said.

Velarde told his followers during Saturday’s rally that Mr. Estrada "need not be removed" as he volunteered to stand as "a gap" between the Church and the State.

Sin and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) are pressuring Velarde to stop supporting the President.

Sin has threatened to order dioceses and churches nationwide to pull support for Velarde if he continues to remain within Mr. Estrada’s circle.

Auxiliary Bishop of Manila Teodoro Bacani, spiritual director of El Shaddai, accused "certain persons" yesterday of spreading disinformation for their own personal interests.

Speaking over Catholic station Radio Veritas, Bacani said he was surprised one morning when a friend called him up to ask why Sin was no longer talking to him.

"I almost fell from my chair," he said. "Because a couple of days ago, I was seated beside Cardinal Sin at a meeting of the Presbyteral Council of Manila."

Bacani said he is a member of the Board of Consultants of the Presbyteral Council of Manila, and that he is able to speak openly in that forum without concealing anything.

Bacani said he gives communion to Velarde and denied reports that Mr. Estrada’s spiritual adviser had not been receiving the Holy Eucharist.

"It is hard to get the truth these days," he said.

Bacani said the people spreading the canard can be described as "decent," and that their objective is "maganda" (noble) but that their means is "malabo"(shady).

"If you want peace, if you want justice, then speak the truth," he said. "If you lie (to attain your objective), you compromise yourself with the devil. And you destroy your own objective."

Fr. Robert Reyes, chaplain of the University of the Philippines in Diliman in Quezon City, accused Velarde yesterday of receiving "P1 billion from a real estate deal" in exchange for his continued support for Mr. Estrada.

"Velarde is taking advantage of his closeness with the President ever since," the anti-Estrada priest told reporters yesterday. "I did not really trust the man, if he is honest where he stands. He can sacrifice his relationship to the Church instead of sacrificing Erap." – Sandy Araneta, Jose Rodel Clapano