Erap’s Christmas prayer is for Pinoys to have hope

Detained former President Joseph Estrada will celebrate Christmas today by praying for Filipinos to have hope for a better future amid poverty, despair and hopelessness.

"Everywhere we witness many of our countrymen extending their time and resources to uplift the millions who have come to perceive the day of Christ’s birth as simply another day to wallow in poverty, despair and hopelessness," he said in a two-page Christmas message sent to the media yesterday.

"For this one divine truth alone, let us all stand together as a nation of believers and forge on to our shared futures as a people lit from within by the undying flame of hope and spiritual renewal," Estrada added.

For the first time since he was detained more than four years ago, Estrada was allowed to celebrate Christmas at his residence on No. 1 Polk street in North Greenhills Subdivision in San Juan.

Estrada was ousted from office in January 2001 and replaced by then Vice President Gloria Arroyo. He was subsequently charged with plunder, a non-bailable offense, before the Sandiganbayan.

He cited the important contributions by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), who have kept the Philippine economy afloat through the years through the money they send their relatives back home.

Estrada rued that millions of OFWs pay a stiff price for this opportunity — they have to celebrate Christmas away from their families while they toil in foreign lands at jobs not available in their own country.

"The hardships I have spoken of are made even more poignant and painful in the case of our economy from almost certain ruin under this administration but whose collective futures remain in doubt under the current government," he said.

"For them and for all Filipinos who continue to suffer in silence and who feel not even the tiniest glimmer of hope, I pray for deliverance from the bondage of poverty and pain, from the blight of hunger, and from the curse of an apathetic government," Estrada added.

He accused the Arroyo administration of "spreading lies" and disinformation in claiming that the economy had performed well these past months when there has been little improvement in the quality of life of ordinary Filipinos.

"At no other time during the year does the spirit of generosity touch the hearts of people more than during the Yuletide season," Estrada said.

"As the season of peace, love and goodwill envelops our beloved country, I extend my greetings to Filipinos everywhere that Christmas finds them in the bosom of loved ones and friends, safe in the comfort of their homes," he added.

The Sandiganbayan had earlier given Estrada a 36-hour pass for him to attend the wake and burial of his elder brother, Antonio Ejercito, who succumbed to cancer last Dec. 11.

From Dec. 15 to 17, the anti-graft court also allowed Estrada to leave his rest house at Tanay, Rizal, where he is being detained while undergoing trial for plunder, to stay with his 100-year-old mother. Mary Ejercito was confined at the San Juan Medical Center and was later transferred to her residence at Kennedy St. in North Greenhills, San Juan.

Still grieving the loss of his elder brother, Estrada told The STAR his Christmas wish is for "everybody in my family to remain healthy, this is the best thing to receive from the Lord."

Asked what Christmas gift he would give to his mother, who has been suffering from an aneurysm of the stomach, Estrada replied, "My big heart. All my prayers to the Lord to make her life longer."

Through his official spokesman, former congressman Didagen Dilangalen, Estrada deplored anew the Sandiganbayan’s specific restrictions on his 48-hour Christmas pass to be spent at his family residence.

Dilangalen said the court pass allows only "family members and close relatives" to enter Estrada’s residence, and that there are supposed to be "strictly no visitors, especially the media."

"Binubusalan nila ako (They are gagging me)! I’m not even convicted yet, but they curtail my freedom to speak," Dilangalen quoted Estrada as saying.

Estrada said that should he allow himself to be interviewed by the media, "they will revoke my next pass for the New Year."

Aside from granting a Christmas pass, the Sandiganbayan also gave Estrada another 48-hour pass from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1 next year to allow him to enjoy the New Year celebration with his family at their Polk St. residence.