Jinggoy wants to be peacemaker

MANILA, Philippines - There is still hope for Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to reconcile and settle their differences this Christmas season, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada said yesterday.

Estrada said he would take the initiative to get the two quarreling senators to sit down and bury the hatchet before Christmas Day.

“In the spirit of Christmas, I hope that they would make up. I will try my very best to patch things up before Christmas,” Estrada said.

He expressed hope that his two colleagues had gotten their grievances out of their system with their respective privilege speeches delivered over the past two weeks.

Enrile first delivered a privilege speech last week to answer all of the allegations made against him by Santiago.

During that speech, Enrile also made a number of allegations of impropriety against Santiago.

Santiago, for her part, delivered her own privilege speech yesterday where she attacked Enrile for his alleged sins in the past and present.

“I hope that this (yesterday) will be the last day of their conflict and misunderstanding,” Estrada said.

Estrada expressed concern that the conflict between the two elder lawmakers is affecting the image of the Senate and should not be left unsettled.

He said the matters raised by the two senators were no longer related to the work of the Senate and at the very least served as a distraction to its busy schedule.

“I will try my very best to mediate for them to come to terms for the sake of the institution, for the sake of the country,” Estrada said.

Estrada said he considered both Santiago and Enrile as his mentors and so it was difficult for him to see the two of them at odds with each other.

According to Estrada, he expects his father, former President and now Manila City Mayor Joseph Estrada to help him out in his effort to bring Santiago and Enrile together.

“Senators Miriam and Enrile are both his (Mayor Estrada) friends and allies. Of course he does not feel comfortable that they are fighting. I believe that he will somehow enter the picture,” the younger Estrada said.

Asked how he would go about reconciling the two senators, Estrada said he would try his charm.