Thursday, April 12, 2007

About Tessie Oreta

Tessie Aquino-Oreta is probably one of, if not the most controversial, even maligned, senatorial candidate. Even my 12-year-old son's whole class at UPIS knows "Tita Tessie."

Her controversial "I am sorry" ad drew mixed reactions. Many Christians appreciated her for the humility. But not a few also raised their eyebrows. "Why only now?" they asked.

Sometimes I get irritated with the question but then again, not even majority of our churchmates from Victory have seen her spiritual walk up close and personal.

I've covered Tessie when I was still a reporter for the Inquirer. That's why I have a point of comparison. I was so surprised then to hear her asking for forgiveness during one Christmas party sometime in December 2005. It's not easy to ask for forgiveness. Really, it takes a lot of courage to say "sorry" and admit the wrong things you've done. Tears fell from my eyes when I heard her testimony. We've been praying to the Lord to raise Christians leaders in the government. Tessie is definitely one answered prayer. And so I excitedly shared the story to my former boss in the Inquirer, Gerry Lirio -- a very cynical guy. But a good journalist sees stories beyond personal biases. Eventually, Tessie's public apology came out in the front page last year (Ninoy's sister finds forgiveness).

I'm so glad to have stumble into Pastor Joey's blog on Tessie. Pastor Joey discipled her and if there's any "expert opinion" on Tessie's spiritual walk, it's got to be from Pastor Joey.

It saddens me how many Christians can be so unforgiving. Thankfully, we have a God who looks not into our sins. We have a Father who loves us no matter what!

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