OUR Christian upbringing inspires us to be caring for the sick, thus there should be nothing wrong with former president Joseph Estrada attending a mass for former president Corazon Aquino or former first lady Imelda Marcos saying a prayer for her.

Aquino ran against Imelda’s husband Ferdinand and was at the forefront of the Edsa People Power uprising that ousted the Marcos dictatorship on February 1986.

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Cory was also among the leaders of Edsa 2, the uprising that ousted Erap from power, although she has recently apologized to the latter for her role in that protest action that installed Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, whom she now detests, to the presidency.

Surely, there was no hypocrisy in the recent acts of Erap and Imelda.

Ironic twist

What is noteworthy, though, is the irony in the scene.

While Cory, the democracy icon, is fighting for her life as colon cancer ravaged her body, Erap and Imelda, once target of people’s protests and whose record in power is not that admirable, are bestowed the gift of longevity of life.

In a wider sense, as icons of People Power have either passed away, like former archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin, or are battling illness, like Cory, those who have at one time or another shamed the country are once again enjoying life.

There is nothing so frustrating for some sectors, for example, than Erap gaining back his confidence by talking about running for president again only a few years after the court convicted him of plunder.

And while Imelda claimed financial hardships because of the sequestration of her family’s supposed ill-gotten wealth, her lavish spending during her 80th birthday and talks about government returning her jewelry proved both her affluence and influence.

Faulty politics

Indeed, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

The irony played out as the nation prays for the well-being of one of the symbols of the Filipinos’ heroism has reminded us of how faulty this country’s politics remains.

Our politics, like show business, still practices a different set of values and principles, and could not seem to distinguish between the moral and the immoral.