BY CHRISTIAN OINEZA
"NAGPAPASALAMAT pa rin ako sa Diyos that
she had a long life," former President Joseph Estrada said
yesterday as he visited for the first time the wake of his
mother, Doña Mary Ejercito, who died Tuesday at 103.
Estrada had closeted himself after his
mother’s death and only emerged to visit the wake at the St.
John de Baptist church on Pinaglabanan street in San Juan at
6:15 p.m. yesterday.
"Nahihiya nga ako at di ko nasalubong si
President Cory Aquino nang dumating siya ng tanghali.
Nagapapasalamat ako sa kanyang pagdating at pakikiramay."
Estrada said.
He said he drew strength from his mother
when he was forced to step down in 2001. "Ang sabi niya sa
akin ay ‘lakasan mo ang loob mo at wala ka naman ginagawang
masama sa kapwa mo. Maging kalma ka at lalabas din ang
katotohanan.’"
He described Doña Mary as a strict but
compassionate.
Estrada and his siblings Pilarica, Marita,
Paulino, Patrocina and Jesse, as well as Estrada’s son San
Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, were at the bedside of Doña Mary when
she died at the 4:15 p.m. at the San Juan Medical Center.
Burial mass will be on Saturday at 9 a.m.
The family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be
sent instead to the Erap Para Sa Mahirap Foundation which in
turn will distribute these to Dona Mary’s favorite charities.
