A day at the carnival : Seer sees Estrada’s acquittal but...

Prosecutors in the ongoing impeachment trial of President Estrada may not like what she has to say. Yet, Cely dela Cruz, a veteran seer, unabashedly predicts that the President will not be impeached.

The 68-year-old fortune teller, once dubbed as the Dean of Psychics in Asia, Oceania, says the President will remain in office unless Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, the prime witness in the trial, would reveal a "most potent secret."

"I see the President surviving this trial," she said while studying the tarot cards spread on her table at the Boom na Boom carnival in Pasay City last Saturday. "If Singson will reveal his most potent secret, then he will have to go to jail with the President."

Skeptics may easily dismiss Dela Cruz’s ability to see the future. But she has been in this business for more than five decades, starting under the tutelage of her grandmother who predicted the coming of World War II and even the rise of multi-level car parks.

"My lola said she saw cars going up buildings. No one wanted to believe her until today," she said.

Dela Cruz herself predicted in her youth the coming of a religious war in Mindanao and the advent of cellular phones. One of her most notable predictions was Mr. Estrada becoming president in 1998.

Asked what Singson’s most potent secret could be, the seer just shrugged her shoulders and refused to answer. "I cannot reveal it at this time," she said. "It’s a very sensitive matter."

The atmosphere at the Boom na Boom Saturday mirrored the country’s hard times. Considering that it was a weekend, the place was crowded but never full. Parents, mostly overseas Filipino workers, were seen treating their kids to rides and games. Many of them were even seen amusing themselves with the carnival’s various offerings.

Yet some came with no kids in tow.

Take for instance Benny Lim, a businessman. He went to Boom na Boom not for the cable car, the horror house or the free concert. He went there to seek out Dela Cruz.

After paying the P300 fee, Lim sat patiently on a bench just across Dela Cruz’s table to await his turn. "I always consult her this time of the year," he said. "Her predictions help me chart the future of my business."

Dela Cruz generally sees a troubled year 2001 for most of the country, especially with the peso-dollar exchange rate remaining high and millions of workers losing their jobs. But she said Filipinos would be able to withstand this crisis as they have withstood all crises that came their way in the past.

"We are a God-fearing nation and this will work for us. I see the country becoming the next commercial center of Asia next to Hong Kong," she said.