Opposition leaders join JIL assembly

Opposition leaders joined tens of thousands of members of a Christian evangelist group in a massive "prayer assembly" for jurors in the upcoming Senate trial of President Estrada.

Organizers from the "Jesus is Lord" (JIL) movement said that some of Mr. Estrada’s Cabinet officials, including Press Secretary Ricardo Puno, had accepted an invitation to the event but backed out the last minute.

Among those present were Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who leads a united opposition against Mr. Estrada, and House Majority Leader Feliciano Belmonte Jr. (Lakas, Quezon City) and Leyte Rep. Sergio Apostol, who are among the 11-member House prosecution team.

Arroyo, who has repeatedly called on the President to step down, cautioned the people last night to keep away from groups who are planning to further destabilize and sow violence in the country.

She said "active non-violent struggle remains the best form of struggle," and rallied her allies in the political opposition not to fall into the administration’s hands by provoking violence.

"There are those who may be tempted to use this crisis as the means to achieve change through the use of violence. Succumbing to such a temptation would only play into the hands of the apologists of the administration," she said in her prepared speech.

Representatives from the dominant Roman Catholic Church as well as other anti-Estrada multi-sectoral groups were also invited to join "tens of thousands" of JIL members in praying for the enlightenment of jurors.

JIL preacher Eddie Villanueva led a prayer to give the Senate’s 22 members, the prosecutors and the presiding chairman of the jurors as well as Mr. Estrada’s defense lawyers "divine wisdom to fulfill their mandate in accordance to truth and justice and not according to friendship or political partisanship." – Liberty Dones