Guingona: We need civility, not reconciliation

Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. said yesterday that what the country needs now is not just reconciliation but a "return to civility among our leaders."

"The crying and urgent need is not only national unity and reconciliation but the return of civility among our leaders and a reservoir of goodwill and trust," he said in a statement.

Guingona said it was unfortunate that President Arroyo’s offer of a "principled reconciliation" to various political groups — particularly to all those involved in the House of Representatives’ attempt to impeach Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. — have "been met with little enthusiasm, if not distrust and derision."

However, he explained that achieving political reconciliation will need more than an offer from the President.

"It cannot be reconciliation for the purpose of election," Guingona said in an apparent dig at Mrs. Arroyo’s intention to seek a full six-year term in next May’s presidential elections.

"Such conditions cannot be demanded and turned on like light switches. These are developed and strengthened over time. The call for reconciliation must come from our hearts — with the right motive and at the right time," he added.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., for his part, said a "reconciliation between the administration and the opposition is possible but only under the rules of civility and democratic discourse."

He pointed out that these rules should still apply even when both parties disagree on policies.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, president of the opposition Lakas ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), said the President’s appeal for reconciliation "came too late in the day."

He said Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to run in the May 2004 elections "served notice on the political opposition and other sectors opposed to her administration that she’s not about to reconcile with them."

Angara noted that about 20,000 supporters of ousted president Joseph Estrada, who were violently dispersed during a rally in Makati City last Wednesday, were calling for her resignation.

Militant groups, on the other hand, denounced the President’s call for reconciliation as "very, very sick" and called for her to step down to start the process of genuine reconciliation.

Dani Beltran, secretary general of the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, said Mrs. Arroyo is "trying to hypnotize the public" without addressing the root causes of the current political crisis — the systematic corruption, human rights violations and all-out war in the guise of a "holistic approach" against insurgency and terrorism, and poverty.

"The Arroyo administration’s formula in solving these problems is too simplistic and very, very sick," he said.

Beltran added that the President’s offer of reconciliation "is nothing but an attempt to neutralize (her) political enemies and muster her much-needed numbers in preparation for the 2004 elections."

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said it plans to hold a big rally on Nov. 20 and march to Malacañang to call for "an end to (Mrs.) Arroyo’s brand of opportunistic, corrupt and elite leadership."

Bayan secretary general Teodoro Casiño called for the President to step down, saying that her plan to achieve "total reconciliation" with the Marcos family, businessman Eduardo Cojuangco and Estrada is merely an "attempt to broker a settlement among the most corrupt and reactionary factions of the Philippine ruling elite."

The President, after calling for a principled reconciliation, had asked Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, incoming president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, to serve as a back channel in talks with her critics and groups opposed to her administration. — With Edith Regalado