Erap campaigns in Hong Kong

MANILA, Philippines – Former President Joseph Estrada celebrated Easter Sunday in Hong Kong where he vowed to ensure better benefits for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) from their host countries.

Estrada arrived with his wife Loi Ejercito, son Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, and vice presidential bet Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay on a 6:20 a.m. flight.

They attended the noontime Easter Filipino Mass at St. Joseph’s before proceeding to the Chater Garden for the OFWs’ Easter program.

The program, organized and sponsored by Public Finance Ltd., was titled “Ang Lahing Kayumanggi.”

It showcased talents from various OFW groups and promoted the automated elections, the first to be experienced by Hong Kong-based OFWs on April 11 under the Overseas Absentee Voting System.

Estrada gave his Easter message of hope, saying that even as he suffered the worst humiliation and the most unjust of trials, he never lost faith.

“This Easter Day, let us remember Christ’s message of hope. We Filipinos have had our own share of sufferings, as I have had my own share of trials. But let us remember that even in times when it seems that you have nothing, as long as we still have our faith, we have everything,” said Estrada.

He said this was a lesson that he learned in his darkest moments in prison as he was tried for crimes he claimed he did not commit.

“Then when the sun rises, as it has on this beautiful Easter Day, just as it has in my life, after the Lord allowed me to regain my freedom, let us remember to give thanks, most especially for the blessings that we never lost even in our darkest moments: the blessings of strength, of hope, and most of all, of faith.”

Estrada also lamented the plight of OFWs.

“It is bad enough that you are forced to sacrifice the company of the people you love for wages that would provide a decent living, education for your children, and food on your family’s table back home. It is worse when you are shortchanged in the country you have moved to on top of the sacrifice of being away from home,” he said.

He said in the nine years that the Arroyo administration has been in power, there has been hardly any progress in the benefits received by OFWs.

“The ideal scenario is for our domestic economy to be strong so that our OFWs can come home, and going abroad would become a matter of choice than a matter of necessity,” Estrada said.

“However, in the meantime that our economy is wavering and the country faces various crises, it is incumbent upon our government to negotiate with the receiving countries so that our OFWs get the most benefits possible,” Estrada said.

He said he would order negotiations with receiving countries for better benefits of OFWs in his first 100 days.

Enrile, Estrada and Binay also took turns speaking before the crowd of Filipinos. About 95,000 OFWs are based in Hong Kong.

Arroyo couple helping Villar?

Meanwhile, the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) yesterday insisted that the Arroyo couple is helping Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential bet Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. in his bid for the presidency.

“The secret is out: the Arroyos are for Villar. Everyone knows about it except Villar and his pseudo-orange camp,” said PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan.

He said Villar has all the right to get angry after being described as Arroyo’s “secret candidate,” since it is no big secret anymore. 

He said their party has received numerous reports from reliable sources that “Villar is indeed the anointed candidate of the Arroyos.”

It noted that like a regular commodity, Villar has “bundled himself to make his bid for the presidency more fast moving.”

Estrada, through spokesperson Margaux Salcedo, said: “Remember that Senator Manny Villar was the House Speaker who paved the way for Gloria Arroyo to become president.

“In no small way are the Arroyos indebted to him so the support of the Arroyos for Manny Villar, in spite of denials from the Villar camp, come as no surprise.”

On Mrs. Arroyo’s birthday, Estrada “wished that the President would have the courage to cease clinging to power and the strength not to make the House of Arroyo a reality.”