MALACANANG yesterday said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is open to reconcile, not just with the Dutertes, but also those with whom he had differences in political beliefs, opinions and policies.
Palace Press Officer Claire Castro, in an interview with radio dzBB, said that as the father of the nation, the president is willing to forgive and seek forgiveness as well as let go of any hurt that he might have felt for the sake of the country and the Filipinos.
Asked during the interview if the reconciliation is for all and not just the Dutertes, Castro said, “Yes.“ There was no mention as to who the others are.
She said the president made it clear that he is open to reconciling with anyone, even if their “political policies,” for the sake of the people.
She also said the president is willing to sacrifice if he has been hurt.
Castro made the statement after the President, during a podcast interview on Monday, said he is open to reconciling with the Dutertes, adding that he already has a lot of enemies and would rather have friends instead.
It was the first time the President talked about reconciling with the Dutertes since the midterm elections last week, after the arrest of former president Rodrigo Duterte and his turnover to the International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, and after the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte, his running mate in the 2002 national elections.
Castro, however, said the reconciliation would only work if the parties concerned are willing. She expressed belief that if everyone is willing, there would always be a way to reconcile.
“We have heard the President. As the father of the country, he is willing. He did not waver. He is willing to reconcile with anyone,” she said in Filipino.
“But if the other party is not willing, nothing will happen. It will not be workable. As far as the President is concerned, in his views, in his heart, he is ready for the sake of the people,” she added.
Castro also said for the nth time that the President was just implementing the law when the elder Duterte was arrested for crimes against humanity and turned over to the ICC.
She also reiterated that Marcos had nothing to do with the impeachment against the vice president and would just let the process roll.
RIGHT DIRECTION
Senate President Francis Escudero said Marcos is In the right direction as he has placed the welfare of Filipinos above anything else.
“He is right. Our country’s leaders cannot afford to be consumed by politics when so many of our countrymen struggle simply to make ends meet. I appreciate that the President has the humility to recognize that the recent election results reveal that our countrymen are weary of conflict and want a government focused on their needs, not distracted by the drama of politics,” Escudero said.
“In admitting that he is open to reconciling with the Vice President and the Duterte family, he reminds us that the welfare of the Filipino people should always take precedence over personal differences and partisan disputes,” he added.
Escudero said the President’s message was clear – “now is the time to build bridges, not burn them. We owe it to our people to rise above division and do better — together — for the sake of our nation.”
Senate president pro tempore Jinggoy Estrada said Marcos’ desire to reunite with the Dutertes “demonstrates his intent to rise above political bickering and focus on national healing and progress.”
Estrada also said he has been against the impeachment from the very start as this will further cause divisiveness among Filipinos, but the Senate cannot do anything but proceed with the trial.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said Marcos’ openness to reconcile with the Dutertes “is the best attitude the President can adopt” being the “father of the nation.”
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said that while it may seem hard for Marcos and the Dutertes to reconcile due to the deep wounds created because of their bickering, he said he is hoping that this will have a “positive development.”
‘BASTONERO’
Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson said Marcos might need a “bastonero” or someone tough enough to make the needed adjustments to deliver good governance in the last three years of his term.
He said Marcos has good intentions when he said that he is willing to reconcile with the Dutertes but this may be interpreted by some as a “weakness.”
“The openness to reconcile with the Duterte family is very typical of PBBM (Marcos) as a person. Yet his kindness and the goodness of his heart in dealing with people are interpreted by both his allies and adversaries as a weakness of his leadership,” he said.
“That said, he may need a strong but well-intentioned ‘bastonero’ in is Cabinet who is capable of making government officials, including members of Congress, toe the line towards good governance,” he added.
Lacson also said he supports the President’s call to set aside politics now that the elections are over so officials can focus on nation building.
“We should set aside politics, which should be only for the campaign. Now that the campaigning is over, we must help each other,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lacson described as “absolutely false and outright malicious” rumors that he and another senator-elect met with Duterte.
Under normal circumstances, Lacson said, there is nothing wrong if newly-elected senators or congressmen pay a courtesy call on the vice president, as what he did when he visited former VP Leni Robredo in 2016, but in this instance, Duterte will be tried with the senators sitting as an impeachment court.
“As an elected senator who is a potential senator-judge in the impeachment trial involving the Vice President should the said trial cross over to the 20th Congress, it is the height of impropriety to meet with her being a respondent in the said impeachment case already transmitted to the Senate,” he said.
“I vehemently deny and dismiss such rumor as absolutely false and outright malicious,” he added.
An official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) expressed support to a possible reconciliation between Marcos and the Duterte camps.
“Unity and reconciliation are always good for our country,” said Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Public Affairs, in a radio interview.
“The desire, though, should be motivated by the common good,” he added. – With Raymond Africa and Gerard Naval
