Just be patient, Imelda tells Estrada

TOLOSA, Leyte — Similarly ousted by a popular uprising 15 years ago, former First Lady Imelda Marcos assured jailed ex-President Joseph Estrada that justice will be served the disgraced leader in due time.

"They say justice grinds exceedingly slow but grinds exceedingly well," Marcos told The STAR in her newly refurbished Olot mansion here.

Imelda, 72, and her late husband former President Ferdinand Marcos were ousted by a civilian-backed military uprising in February 1986. She has since been entangled in numerous legal battles here and abroad.

Both the administrations of former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Fidel Ramos have tried to pin Marcos on corruption charges but she has so far dodged detention.

"Just like the truth, justice will prevail. It may take time but it will prevail. I am a believer. Be patient," Marcos advised Estrada, an unabashed Marcos admirer who allied himself with the late president when he was still mayor of San Juan.

The former first lady said she sympathized with Estrada because she and her husband were also virtually behind bars when they were held in Hawaii after the 1986 people power revolt.

"We were also practically jailed behind invisible bars in an island," said Imelda, whom foreign media called "Iron Butterfly" for her role in Marcos’ martial law regime.

Imelda accompanied her husband in Hawaii until his death in 1989 while their three children and other relatives hid in other countries.

While Imelda expressed support for the disgraced ex-president, she also hailed President Arroyo for her conciliatory move of visiting Estrada at his detention bungalow at Fort Sto. Domingo in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

"There should always be reconciliation, a unification of all groups and all people," Marcos said as she urged both Arroyo and Estrada to reconcile to save the nation.

She said she would be willing to visit Estrada in detention but stressed she would only do so without fanfare and without political undertones.

She also urged the Arroyo administration to assure that Estrada enjoys the due process given all Filipino citizens and accorded the courtesy befitting a former head of state.

"Just make sure you serve the truth. We have to be very careful to give justice," Imelda said.

Pursuing a new tack adopted by the whole Marcos family, Imelda has shunned publicity over the past six months and only appeared in public in her home province of Leyte to campaign for relatives who are running for local and congressional positions. She returned here on Friday to campaign for her younger brother Alfredo "Bejo" Romualdez Sr. who is seeking re-election as Tacloban City mayor.

She is also pushing for the congressional bids of nephews Alfred Romualdez, who is seeking re-election in the first district of Leyte, and Carlos Romualdez, who is running in the second district.

At the same time, Marcos also lambasted the media for their role in Estrada’s ouster and urged the Fourth Estate to report the truth instead of their perception.

She also deplored the violence committed by Estrada loyalists when they stormed the gates of Malacañang on May 1.

"I don’t like violence. Let us respect differences in ideologies, religion, culture," she said.

Nonetheless, she said she has become proud of the Filipino even after the people power revolution that ousted her and her husband because of the "political sensitivities" that emerged after 1986.

"After EDSA I, I’m really proud of the Filipino because they have become sensitive to their human rights, the rule of law. Justice, which is the ultimate end of politics, was the result of that," she said.