Our beliefs may be different, but we respect one another. It would be foolish, if not futile, to try to change Lola Jessica s views about Erap. In her heart, she truly believes that Erap has been good to the poor, that he really cares for them and gives them hope. He will always be their hero, the one who made good and became president so that he would lift them from their poverty. To them, Erap will remain an emblem of their own self-esteem.
Nothing can change that conviction.
The virtuous nun s response to Lola Jessica s undying affection for Erap is the only correct one under the circumstances. She shows us that dialogues begin with compassion and mutual respect. She did not argue with this die-hard Erap admirer. She spent the rest of the day cleaning up the garbage that piled up at the shrine, never thinking for a moment that Lola Jessica had desecrated the place. In the days following the siege of Mendiola, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo surprised everyone by visiting Erap in his Sta.