Cory sends Estrada a gift
Posted: 0:32 AM (Manila Time) | May 24, 2003
By Volt Contreras
Inquirer News Service

JOSEPH Estrada's critics may cringe at hearing him compare himself to the late Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr., but it appears that the ex-senator's widow is partly responsible for putting such ideas in his head.

The ousted president on Friday showed up at his hearing at the Sandiganbayan carrying a hard-bound book that he said was a "gift" sent to him last Saturday by former president Corazon Aquino. The book, titled "Testament from a Prison Cell," is a collection of Ninoy's reflections, letters and other writings as a political prisoner of the Marcos dictatorship.

Former president Aquino confirmed to the Inquirer that she had indeed sent Estrada the book so that "he would pray more," she said. "It is to help him cope," her spokesperson Deedee Siytangco quoted the former president as saying.

In a press conference after the hearing, Estrada held up "Testament" for the cameras and said it was "a source of inspiration" that had brought him "closer to God."

Estrada drew "parallels" between himself and Ninoy, saying that the assassinated opposition leader "did not trust the military tribunal" that was then trying him, "while I don't trust the Supreme Court justices because of their conspiracy with the lawyers" of President Glroria Macapagal-Arroyo.

For good measure, the former matinee idol gave a twist to the famous Ninoy quote: "If he said 'The Filipino is worth dying for,' I will paraphrase it as 'The rule of law is worth fighting for.'"

Estrada said Aquino sent him the book through Philip Juico, who served as her agrarian reform secretary. He said Aquino might have heard from his former finance secretary, Jose "Titoy" Pardo, that he had been depressed lately.

According to Siytangco, former President Aquino had been planning to send the book even before Juico's visit because "she realized that while Ninoy was in jail, he welcomed visitors" and little gestures of thoughtfulness.

Estrada quoted Aquino's dedication thus: "To President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, with my prayers and good wishes."

He said Aquino's note referred him to Page 136, which contained Ninoy's letter to then senator Francisco "Soc" Rodrigo.

Rodrigo's letter had tried to console and counsel the incarcerated Ninoy saying in part that God may have wanted him in jail for him to realize that when things were going well for him, he had forgotten the Lord.

He said he was "grateful" to Aquino for her gift, but became rather evasive when asked how he would reconcile her gesture with the leading role she played in the January 2001 uprising that removed him from office.

At the hearing, Estrada told the justices that his recent motion seeking the dismissal of his plunder and other criminal cases was a "reiteration" of his long-held position of not recognizing the Sandiganbayan.