Oreta asks for forgiveness for dancing during Erap trial

Former Senator Tessie Aquino-Oreta is asking forgiveness from Cebuanos for "hurting their sensitivity" at the height of the aborted Estrada impeachment trial in which she earned the tag as the "Dancing Queen."

Now a senatorial candidate, Aquino-Oreta, who was the guest during the grand alumni homecoming of Cebu Normal University, yesterday said it's about time to bury the past, move forward and forget about politics of negativism and hatred.

"Let us bury the past, it's over. If I have hurt the sensitivity of the Cebuanos, then I am asking their forgiveness," said the younger sister of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr.

Aquino-Oreta had been widely criticized after she was caught by television cameras dancing at the Senate Session Hall after majority of the senators blocked the opening of the controversial second envelope that was said to contain vital evidence against former President Joseph Estrada, who was facing a plunder charge before the Senate.

Although she was politically aligned with Estrada even after the impeachment trial, Aquino-Oreta bolted the opposition after she was not included in its senatorial lineup for the May elections.

Now running under the Team Unity of the administration, Aquino-Oreta said she strongly believed that every Filipino child should receive a better education before entering Grade One.

She said it was during her stint as chairman of the Senate committee on education that the issue as to whether to add additional year in the child's schooling cropped up. But the issue, she said, has remained unresolved.

She explained that several suggestions came out that the additional year should be included in the elementary level, but other suggestions call for an additional year in the secondary level.

Aquino-Oreta, however, believed that it is better to put the additional year in the child's pre-elementary education.

"This is one thing that I would like to pursue if given another chance to serve the Filipino people. Majority of the Filipino children enter Grade One in public school without enrolling in the preparatory level. We have to give our children a competitive edge," she said. - Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/LPM