GMA calls for end to black propaganda

Since her pleas have fallen on deaf human ears, she is again seeking God’s help.

President Arroyo yesterday asked the Almighty to speak to her political opponents and make them stop using mudslinging and black propaganda in their campaigns.

After repeated calls to her rivals in the presidential race to bring their campaign to a "high plane," the President said she feels her appeal to the other presidential candidates in the May 10 elections has fallen on deaf ears as the disqualification cases against her continue to pile up.

Speaking at the midnight Palm Sunday Mass of the Catholic charismatic El Shaddai movement at the AMVEL Business Park in Parañaque City, Mrs. Arroyo asked the congregation to pray that the other candidates seeking the presidency will focus on issues rather than engage in mudslinging.

"During this season of Lent, I am urging you, my brothers and sisters in Yaweh El Shaddai, to pray for peaceful, orderly and credible elections and also pray to uplift the kind of campaigning by others, some of whom are using black propaganda and character assassinations instead of laying (down) their platforms of government," she said.

Her campaign spokesman, Michael Defensor, immediately doused speculations that the President’s presence at the El Shaddai gathering was part of her campaign and that she was trying to win the religious group’s support.

Defensor said the President has been attending the El Shaddai’s Palm Sunday Mass for the last 13 years and added that, over the last three years, he has been accompanying her to the Mass.

"The President’s presence here is really part of her being a religious person," he said. "She really always seeks guidance from above."

Mrs. Arroyo also called on all of her rivals in the presidential derby to observe a Holy Week "ceasefire" in their black propaganda and mudslinging activities.

She said no political candidates are allowed to campaign on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, since these days are meant to be spent in prayer and reflection.

"There must be an intermission for prayer because, as Msgr. Socrates Villegas said, there is a tendency for the campaign to intensify, which may lead to unwholesome things," the President said in Tagalog, quoting Villegas, who celebrated the Mass.

In his homily, Villegas underscored the importance of prayer, silence, saying no and thinking (PSST) before choosing the next leaders of the country come election day.

"Holy Week is not only for feelings. Holy Week is the time to discern, to renew our faith," Villegas said. "Next month, there will be an election and, as we vote for the next leaders of government, always be reminded of PSST."

The El Shaddai congregation also greeted the President an advance happy birthday by singing "Happy Birthday" to mark Mrs. Arroyo’s 57th birthday.

The President will take her campaign to her hometown of Lubao, Pampanga today as part of her birthday celebration.

She will attend Mass at the San Agustin Church there before having breakfast with farmers at the church’s covered court.

After breakfast, the Friends of PGMA and the Cabinet ladies, together with the Gawad Kalinga (GK) movement, the city government of Angeles and Mrs. Arroyo’s daughter, Luli, will launch the construction of the "Gloria Village," a housing project for indigent families in Angeles City.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will also launch its nationwide tree-planting program in Lubao today.

The Department of Health (DOH), meanwhile, will kick off its national blood-donation drive dubbed "Dugong Buhay, Handog sa Kaarawan ni President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo."

The Department of Agriculture (DA) will also take part in the President’s birthday celebration as it continues promoting the use of the high-yield hybrid "Gloria" rice seed at the lobby of the DA’s head office in Quezon City.