Angara, Lacson agree to stay together in minority

After the sparks comes the truce.

Senators Panfilo Lacson and Edgardo Angara have patched up their differences, with Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. saying the two feuding opposition lawmakers have agreed to a "ceasefire."

"It was a resolution of the issues raised by one another," Pimentel said, adding Lacson and Angara buried the hatchet during a caucus of the Senate minority bloc at the office of Sen. Sergio Osmeña III yesterday.

"There will be no more rhetorical flourishes of anyone. I was asked to speak for both of them. They agreed that there will be no more recrimination, no more attacks from anyone," Pimentel said.

He said one does not have to "be loved or be liked" to be part of the Senate minority bloc.

"They accepted it," he said. "They agreed to work together and work as one with the minority. There is no need for us to like one another. I don’t go for that. We did not insist that they must love each other or they must like each other."

Even as the "ceasefire" was announced, however, Lacson’s spokesman said yesterday Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay had offered Lacson the Senate presidency and P400 million to reimburse his campaign expenses so he would withdraw from the May 10 presidential race in favor of movie actor Fernando Poe Jr.

Angelito Banayo, also Lacson’s political strategist, said Binay — with Sen. Gregorio Honasan and Ilocos Norte Rep. Imee Marcos — made the offer to him and Lacson’s allies, San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora and Makati Rep. Agapito Aquino, during "last minute efforts" to unify the opposition last May 2, in talks held in Aquino’s office.

"Binay offered that if Poe were to become president, Ping could be the Senate president, and either Butz or Ronnie could be speaker (of the House)," he said.

"We kept silent, (Aquino’s chief of staff Armand Padilla), seated beside me, and Butz whispered, ‘what could we offer FPJ?’"

Binay is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

However, Lito Anzures, Binay’s spokesman, said the mayor no longer considers relevant whatever Poe and Lacson had discussed during the last elections.

"The mayor does not want to join the battle of Senators Lacson and Angara," he said.

Banayo said Binay then talked about "reimbursement of campaign expenses," but he, Zamora and Aquino remained quiet.

"Nobody from our side uttered a word," he said.

Banayo said Zamora then asked Binay if the P300 million for Lacson’s campaign reimbursement would be paid "up front."

"You don’t have to raise it up front, it’s easy to negotiate it," Banayo quoted Binay as saying. "Will P400 million be okay?"

Banayo said Binay then went to a whiteboard and pointed to another "term of reference" on government positions, and asked them what Cabinet posts Lacson wanted.

"Binay repeated his offer: ‘We can negotiate sub-Cabinet posts like Customs or BIR. Perhaps the BIR or Customs could raise the reimbursement.’"

However, Banayo said Lacson later rejected Binay’s "terms of reference" when he and his colleagues met with the senator in the afternoon.

"I will attend the talks just so they won’t say I snubbed them," Banayo quoted Lacson as saying. "But I will advise FPJ at the start not to even utter a word about their offers."

Banayo said later that night Poe arrived at the meeting with Binay, then Sen. Vicente Sotto III, Marcos and Frisco San Juan.

During a private talk, San Juan asked him if there was no way to convince Lacson to give way to Poe, he added.

Meanwhile, a reliable opposition source said that Binay had indeed offered to reimburse Lacson’s campaign expenses in behalf of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino if he would withdraw from the presidential elections.

"As far as the reimbursement offer was concerned, it’s true without pointing to any figure," the source said.

"That’s a reasonable item, a reasonable offer, considering that you are asking somebody to back down on his presidential bid for which that person has already spent.

"This can be corroborated and validated by other KNP officials. Binay simply acted as the KNP spokesman during the negotiation."

However, the source said Binay did not make any other offers to Lacson.

The source said they are dismayed that Banayo had disclosed details of that meeting between Poe and Lacson.

"Negotiations of this sort bear the nature of being confidential," the source said. "Certainly it does not do anyone good to breach that confidence."