Arroyo considering reaching out to political rivals

The Palace welcomed yesterday the statement of Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. that President Arroyo’s reconciliation offer must be preceded by "civility" in dealing with the people the administration seeks to reach out to.

Malacañang also supported a proposal for the President to take the lead in bringing the country’s political leaders together for a sit-down "retreat" as a prelude to the renewed reconciliation effort.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye expressed openness to the suggestion of Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas Ople that such the country’s political leaders attend the retreat.

"The proposal of Secretary Ople is that all party leaders should sit down together, possibly in a retreat, and let’s talk first (about) general principles without going into details," Bunye said in interviews over dzBB and Radio Mindanao Network.

"If all understand the general principles, the details can be tackled detail by detail. The important thing is there is an agreement to come together," he said.

The retreat, as proposed by Ople, can be held for an entire day or half a day to pave the way for a wide-ranging discussion of how the President’s reconciliation offer can be turned into a reality.

Agreeing with Guingona’s statement, Bunye said that "in order to have a favorable climate for these talks of reconciliation, we have to be civil with one another because it’s a Filipino trait," Bunye said.

While the country’s political leaders "may be opposed to each other’s principles," he said, "once we face each other... (we) should act with civility and respect for one another."

For unity, prosperity

In her weekly radio address over government-run Radyo ng Bayan, the President again extended her offer of reconciliation to her political enemies and anti-administration groups for the sake of national unity and prosperity.

"Our conflict must be healed by our sense of nationalism and our responsibility as citizens of this country," the President said.

She also said she is "praying for an end to this trouble making so that we can pour our time and attention to more serious problems affecting our people, like poverty, crime and terrorism."

The President also expressed hope that the tumultuous rally conducted by anti-administration groups in Makati City last Wednesday would not be repeated.

"I am dismayed at the activities of some of our politicians, who use the masses by taking advantage of their situation," she said. "We must really have unity and reconciliation based on respect for the dignity of our people and recognition of their important contribution to our society."

She told Filipinos not to allow themselves to be mislead "by wrong information or agitation by groups wanting to destroy and bring down this government."

The President also met with participants in the sixth Women Playwrights International Conference at Malacañang’s Heroes’ Hall and swapped views on reconciliation with them.

This is the first time the conference is being held in Asia and women playwrights from 30 countries are participating in the event, which ends on Thursday.

"First, there must be a desire on (the part of) both sides to reconcile," the President said. "There must be some acknowledgment of wrongdoing, in some way or another. That acknowledgment must be (made) in a way that preserves the dignity of the one acknowledging and there must be some retribution."

Expected Criticism

Bunye, meanwhile, conceded that anti-administration leaders and members of the opposition will naturally criticize the President’s latest reconciliation effort.

"In the first place, it is expected that there (will) be criticism (of) this ‘principled reconciliation’ proposal of the President," Bunye said.

He said these expected criticisms may be due to a "lack of full understanding of what the President means" by ‘principled reconciliation.’

Bunye said that even the Cabinet was at a loss over how to carry out the President’s vision of a principled reconciliation when the matter was presented to them Tuesday at a special meeting in the Palace.

The Cabinet came to understand what the President seeks to achieve after the concept of principled reconciliation was discussed by Davao Archbishop and incoming Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Fernando Capalla and Rev. Romeo Intengan, head of the Society of Jesus in the Philippines.

Capalla and Intengan impressed upon the Cabinet the successful efforts made by former South African President Nelson Mandela and former South Korean President Kim Dae Jung for reconciliation with their enemies.

Growing Support

At the House of Representatives, Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano of Isabela, Exequiel Javier of Antique and Nereus Acosta of Bukidnon called on those cynical about the President’s latest reconciliation effort to give it a chance.

"Let all these quarrels stop for the sake of our nation. Critics should abandon their skepticism and move on with the reality that the President’s reconciliation move will bring about good governance," Albano said.

Acosta said rejecting the President’s reconciliation offer out of hand is "an immature reaction." He also said, "the President should come out with a definition of reconciliation and explain what extent of preparations will the government do to make reconciliation work so everyone could better understand her proposal."