Estrada urges Filipinos to unite

Estrada urges Filipinos to unite

MANILA (AP): President-elect Joseph Estrada urged Filipinos
yesterday to unite after a stormy dispute provoked by his
endorsing the burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in a
heroes' cemetery.

Estrada said he was relieved the furor over the planned July
11 burial was over, adding that Filipinos couldn't afford to be
divided amid the economic challenges confronting their nation.

"Our foes are big and strong, especially when it comes to the
economy. There is no reason for us to be divided," Estrada told a
crowd after a thanksgiving Mass in a church in suburban San Juan,
where he was mayor at the start of his political career.

Estrada angered groups led by former President Corazon Aquino
by endorsing a plan to bury Marcos' remains at the Heroes
Cemetery in an army camp in metropolitan Manila.