JOSEPH ESTRADA'S insistence on his innocence and total lack of remorse has become the second slap in the face of the Filipino nation. The first was the pardon itself. How can there ever be "unity, rule of law, justice" if people found guilty of committing crimes against the nation get off the hook just like that?

I once had hope for this country, which is why I am still here. But that hope is running out with the realization that all those in politics are the same. It is either they are in power and want to stay in power at all costs, or they are not in power and they want to grab power at all costs.

Nobody really cares for poor Juan de la Cruz. Neither the administration nor the opposition. Neither the fascist military nor the communist insurgents. They are all of the same ilk.--RODINO TANJUAKIO, via e-mail