GMA, Saycon reconcile as COPA head named to People Power Commission

After a bitter quarrel years ago that descended to name-calling, President Arroyo and civil society leader Pastor "Boy" Saycon have finally reconciled, with the latter committing to support her pro-poor programs while saying he will not give up his crusade against graft and corruption.

Saycon, who was once called a "termite" by Mrs. Arroyo at the height of their bickering, was reappointed to the EDSA People Power Commission (EPPC).

Saycon, for his part, said he had never fought with the President.

"Hindi kami nag-away ni Presidente (I didn’t fight with the President). I may not have supported any President, but the President is still my friend," Saycon told reporters at Malacañang after taking his oath before Mrs. Arroyo along with 18 other members of the revived body yesterday.

Saycon, secretary-general of the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA), was among the civil society leaders who helped mobilize popular support to topple former President Joseph Estrada that led to EDSA II in January 2001 and installed Mrs. Arroyo to power.

He said he welcomes his appointment to the EPPC and vowed to spread "the ideals of EDSA."

Asked whether he would continue to criticize the Arroyo administration, Saycon said: "Let’s not say criticize. I will just remind them if there are ill-doings that I see, especially with the evidentiary proof about wrongdoings in government, that would continue."

"I will not stop my crusade against graft and corruption," he stressed.

When asked to comment on the so-called "Hello, Garci" scandal, which has raised questions on the legitimacy of the Arroyo presidency, Saycon said the Senate should continue its investigation.

"I don’t have any stand on the ‘Garci’ tapes because when it comes to that issue of cheating, I haven’t seen any election where people did not cheat," he said.

Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, who has been working on reconciliation efforts with the political opposition, said Saycon might even be given a key position in government owing to his patriotism and strong work on various grassroots programs.

Saycon was the President’s fundraiser and political adviser when she was senator and vice president. When Mrs. Arroyo assumed the presidency, he was appointed as director of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., a government-owned corporation.

He quit his post however at the height of a feud with the President in July 2002 after she called him a "termite" gnawing away at her "strong republic" vision for the country. He had then publicly opposed her appointment of the late Blas Ople as foreign affairs secretary.

Saycon was repeatedly linked to destabilization plots and was charged with sedition in February 2004 after he organized the previous month a press conference of the so-called "Kawal" (soldiers) group that denounced Mrs. Arroyo.

The complaint is still with the Department of Justice.

Still a friend

Defensor said he and Saycon continued to maintain good communication and relations.

Saycon’s coming back to the Palace, he said, is one of the fruits of the administration’s efforts to reach out to the opposition. He said he and Saycon have been friends for the past several years.

"We never cut our communication lines. We have occasional lunches and dinners and we often talked about his programs in his NGOs while I present our pro-poor programs," Defensor said.

"I’ve always considered him an ally and a friend," he said.

Defensor said in talking with Saycon, he also tried to win him back as he knew that the civil society leader and Mrs. Arroyo were very close friends.

He said the last time they met face to face was at a dinner and the President called him up over the mobile phone. After speaking to her briefly, he handed the phone to Saycon and the former friends began talking again.

He said Saycon updated Mrs. Arroyo on his pet projects, particularly the People’s Patriotic Movement.

Defensor however said he had nothing to do with Saycon’s reappointment to the EPPC. He said the office of Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita might have called him up.

Ermita said Saycon’s return to the Palace is one of the examples of the administration’s reaching out to "those who have lost their way."

Celebrating the ‘spirit of EDSA’

Meanwhile, beginning this year, celebrating the "spirit of EDSA" will be an annual four-day event featuring a series of activities in Makati City.

The country’s financial capital will play host to events that will relive the bloodless revolution of 1986 that led to the ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

Yearly events will also honor former Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. as a hero and as a man who believed the Filipino to be "worth dying for."

The Makati City Council has approved City Ordinance No. 2006-015, which officially declares Feb. 22 to 25 of every year as the period for "celebrating the Spirit of EDSA 1986."

Mayor Jejomar Binay noted Makati City played an important role in the movement to oust the Marcos dictatorship.

Ayala Avenue, Binay recalled, became a venue for protest actions after the assassination of Aquino on Aug. 21, 1983.

Thus, Ayala Avenue became known for its "yellow confetti revolution" where office workers of high-rise buildings showered the streets with confetti made of shredded pages from telephone directories in support of protesters who marched below.

City officials are now preparing for next week’s celebration and will soon announce the schedule of activities to be undertaken jointly with major Makati-based companies and business groups like the Makati Business Club.

Initially, organizers are planning to replicate the confetti revolution along the stretch of Ayala Avenue to relive the day that yellow confetti rained down in the name of democratic revolution.

Binay said the city will pay special tribute to Aquino, whose monument stands at the corner of Ayala and Paseo de Roxas, as well as other "martyrs to democracy."

The ordinance, penned and endorsed by Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado to members of the City Council, described the February 1986 EDSA Revolution as "a testimony to the Filipino people’s unity against injustice and tyranny and highlights the people’s commitment to truth, freedom and justice.

"It also brought out the best in the Filipino — kindness, selflessness and undying faith in the Almighty. Thus, there is a need to keep the spirit of EDSA 1986 alive in the hearts and minds of the people of Makati," the measure read. — Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan