Cory, FVR, Sin rally support for Arroyo

Former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos and Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin called on the public yesterday to support President Arroyo as she tries to steer the country out of political and economic crises.

The trio also assailed Mrs. Arroyo’s opponents, including the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers in Mindanao and allies of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

"Let us give her all the help she can get. She needs it," Aquino said, referring to Mrs. Arroyo, who like her was swept to power through a popular uprising.

"The President and certain government officials are working tirelessly to put in place new building blocks of reform," Aquino said at cere-monies marking six months since Estrada was toppled and Mrs. Arroyo installed.

"What is important is for the leadership, the concerned citizenry and the ci-vil society to unite. Now is the time to get in the same team and work together," said Ramos, Aquino’s successor.

Sin said there must be no compromise with evil, and any political coalition must be founded on moral principles.

At the unveiling of a relief sculpture marking the second people power revolution at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City, Sin said reconciliation is possible only after justice is served and the law is applied.

"This is the time to reach out but always on ethical grounds. There must be no compromise with evil. There should be no political coalition without moral principles," he said.

Sin prayed that the country be blessed with true leaders of principle and not of expediency. He described the Abu Sayyaf activities in the South as the nation’s biggest scourge and appealed to Christians and Muslims to "work together to bring lasting peace to our land."

Ramos said: "The continuity of our revolution for economic, political, and social reform must be intensified now so that it will endure." He added that the country’s fight against poverty remained its most serious challenge.

The three veterans of the two people power revolutions assailed Estrada allies who instigated a violent riot by thousands of impoverished Estrada supporters at the presidential palace gates on May 1 in an attempt to topple Mrs. Arroyo and re-install Estrada.

Ramos branded it a "malicious manipulation that set sectors of society against each other."

Aquino said the whole campaign, dubbed people power 3, was "full of hate."

Sin said the "EDSA spirit" that drove out authoritarian rule in 1986 was the same spirit that "set us free from an immoral leadership in January this year."

He also recalled how 32 years ago yesterday when man first landed on the moon, man felt closer to God. The same experience can also be related to the EDSA phenomenon, he said.

Ramos remarked how the revolution was unfinished because Filipinos were still not free from oppression.

"We unveil this marker today to remind ourselves that the Philippine revolution to achieve freedom from fear, freedom from injustice, freedom from want and freedom from oppression is still unfinished," he said.

The inauguration was also attended by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., as well as government officials, diplomats, and the religious.

The EDSA II relief sculpture is a work of artist Nemiranda from Angono, Rizal. It is made of concrete and metal with a bronze finishing, measures seven feet high and 83 feet long, and is mounted on the outer wall of the EDSA Shrine.

The sculpture depicted EDSA II events beginning with the expose of Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson up to the four-day uprising at the shrine. Highlights include Sin reading a pastoral letter and the Senate vote on the second PCI Equitable Bank envelope.

The show of support for Mrs. Arroyo comes on the weekend before she is to deliver her first State of the Nation of Address before Congress Monday, and following a survey that showed declining business confidence in her government.

But Ramos noted that the pessimistic outlook of the Makati Business Club is something that "happens during any president’s administration."

He also urged militant groups "not to destroy what we have worked for together."

Leftist groups intend to mount massive street protests when the President addresses the 12th Congress’ opening session Monday.

Since Mrs. Arroyo assumed power, replacing the disgraced Estrada, much of the initial euphoria over her administration has worn off due to the opposition’s challenges to the constitutionality of her government, a new Abu Sayyaf kidnapping spree that began in May, and slowing economic growth.

Her economic advisers have lowered growth projections this year as well as next.