One nation, one people

Absence of confidence is the major reason why the Philippine peso continues to weaken. How to turn the situation around and restore confidence among our people is thus an urgent task and priority of the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. Hopefully, with the opening of the 12th Congress and the election of the new heads of the Senate and the House, could be one step towards getting back that national confidence which has been gradually eroding during the past several months.

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As of now, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo seems to be all alone and by her lonesome in tackling the kingsized economic problems facing our country. With the assumption of a new Senate President and House Speaker, President GMA could have much-needed company in plotting out the master plan that could stop the free fall of the peso and the skidding of the economy.

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A Congress that will work in tandem with Malacañang is what we badly need. Time is of the essence – and what the people must perceive, if confidence is to be restored, is a genuine desire and determined action by all our political leaders to unite as one in resurrecting the battered economy.

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At this moment, political wars and wranglings are anathema to a nation seeking its economic resurrection. One united people questing for one shared goal is a dream that must be realized.

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I have been watching the principal lawyers involved in the Impeachment Trial and plunder and criminal cases against former President Estrada from Day One. Easily, one of the most articulate, eloquent and hyperactive prosecution lawyers is Atty. Leonardo de Vera, most of whose time seems to be spent telling the entire world, mainly over radio and television, what the legal and moral issues are all about.

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De Vera has such high-profile media visibility that many think he is the head of the private prosecution panel. In fact, other private lawyers involved in prosecuting the case have been shunted aside, insofar as media stories are concerned, because of De Vera’s constant media appearances. And his verbal tirades against the Estrada lawyers, and also against the Ombudsman, have shrouded him with a "holier than thou" image.

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There is a big risk, though, in assuming a high-profile media posture. One becomes a magnet for enemy attack. Take De Vera. Suddenly, his private life has been unmasked by his detractors, and he is now forced to take the defensive.

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For De Vera, this is an Achilles Heel that he must face frontally if he is to sustain his personal crusade against Erap. It requires providing, point by point, credible answers to the personal charges leveled against him.

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For the benefit of the laymen, the raps raked up against De Vera are the following:

* Violation of the professional code of ethics for lawyers in the California State Bar as well as moral turpitude and dishonesty.

* His alleged guilt in a misdemeanor charge filed against him from 1986 to 1987 in the California State Bar Court by three of his clients.

* The penalty of suspension of three years, eventually reduced to nine months, meted out on him by the California Bar Court referee, retired Judge Bill Dozier.

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I hope De Vera will be able to fully clarify the particular case dug against him. Insofar as the anti-Estrada forces are concerned, he appears to be a big asset in keeping public interest alive on the cases against Erap before the Sandiganbayan. Let De Vera not hesitate in facing the personal issues that have suddenly surfaced against him.

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The Good Samaritan Foundation lent a helping hand to the following indigent beneficiaries during the past several days:

* Sheryl Rose Dira, a young lady who suffered a spinal cord injury, whose physical therapy sessions at the Excel Fitness Center we have been paying for during the past year, P4,000 for her next series of PT sessions

* Dolores Santiago, a 24-year-old girl who is also undergoing physical therapy sessions at the St. Camillus Polyclinic, P3,400 for her monthly PT sessions

* Shelly Ann Lucasan of Cavite City, a mother with a kidney disorder, P2,000 for her monthly medical checkup.

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In the meantime, let me thank the following kindhearted individuals for their generous donations to the Good Samaritan Foundation:

* Pasig City Vice Mayor Lorna Bernardo, P2,500 (Metrobank 42614)

* Wilma Agra Diaz of Pila, Laguna, a regular donor, P1,000 (Metrobank 0196644)

* A kind lady with the initials M.H.P. of Forbes Park, Makati City, also a regular donor, P1,000 (BPI 0340396)

* Anonymous lady donor who remitted P1,000 through BPI

* Anonymous, a regular donor from the US, who sent, through door-to-door, P5,200.

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Thoughts For Today:

Through prayers God hears
more than you can say,
He answers more than you ask,
He gives more than you desire.
All He needs is your time.

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The little things you give away
come back as blessings some other day . . .
this is God’s way of giving rewards
to those who give with unselfish hearts.

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My e-mail addresses: <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>