Arroyo: Sin never fails to unite Filpinos
Jun 20, 2005
"History will mark this day with sadness when a great liberator of the Filipino people and a champion of God passed away," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said in a statement on the death of Jaime Cardinal Sin as read by Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye over a radio interview.
MANILA (Sun Star, June 21 2005) The President acknowledged the role of Cardinal Sin in ousting former president Ferdinand Marcos in 1986. He also helped lead large street protests that led to the ouster of President Joseph Estrada over alleged corruption and misrule in January 2001. The church wasn't fond of Estrada, a notorious womanizer who sired children by several women and was known for late-night drinking and gambling sessions.
"His dream of the Philippines united in peace and justice beacons us to bring down the Tower of Babel and build a nation one and undivided in memory of EDSA I and II, a blessed man who never failed to unite the Filipinos during the most crucial battles against tyranny and evil," Mrs. Arroyo said.
"Cardinal Sin leaves a legacy of freedom and justice forged in deep personal courage," she said.
Mrs Arroyo herself admitted that for many times she was guided by the cardinal's wisdom and profound love for the poor and the oppressed where he lived in the fountain of the people like no other in his time.
Cardinal Sin died early Tuesday morning of renal failure. The cardinal had been suffering from a kidney ailment and diabetes.
Father Jun Sescon, Sin's spokesman, told dzBB radio that the cardinal was taken to Cardinal Santos Medical Center with a high fever on Sunday evening and suffered multiple organ failure. He died at 6:15 a.m. Tuesday.
"Our call to all the faithful is to include in their prayers the soul of Cardinal Sin," Sescon said.
Church leaders were consulting with Sin's family on funeral arrangements. His body was to be taken to Manila Cathedral. The pope's representative here, the papal nuncio, has been informed of death.
Under Sin's leadership, the church opposed calls to change the national constitution - ratified a year after Marcos' ouster -
saying it could endanger provisions safeguarding the nation from future dictatorships.
Arroyo: Sin never fails to unite Filpinos