President Arroyo and Margarita "Tingting" Cojuangco exchanged busses on the cheek yesterday as they met here for the graduation rites of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) though their chance encounter seemed far from a reunion.
Cojuangco is the wife of former Tarlac congressman Jose "Peping" Cojuangco, now president of the Philippine Olympic Committee, who was accused of financing the destabilization plot against Mrs. Arroyo last month.
Cojuangco’s husband is also the brother of former President Corazon Aquino who has called for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation.
Asked what Mrs. Arroyo told her when they met, Cojuangco said they talked mostly about her work as president of the Philippine Public Safety College.
"She asked me to take care of the PDEA (Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency)," she added.
Cojuangco said she and her husband were trying to set an appointment with the President so they could explain what really transpired inside their house on Feb. 24.
"I hope she would talk to us. My husband already wrote a letter to the President," she told reporters.
She said they want to personally contradict the story of Time magazine reporter Nelly Sindayen that reported her husband was one of those who plotted a coup, along with civil society leader Pastor "Boy" Saycon and several others from different sectors.
"It is common that meetings can go on in the same hour that have to do with different things. We’re not afraid because we have not lied, we have not gone against the government," Cojuangco said.
She stressed she did not feel alluded to when the President noted in her speech that the new PNPA graduates must be wary of destabilization moves, including "underground financing and political support."
Cojuangco said her husband was long a part of the President’s original political party, Kampi, and would not destroy what he helped build over time.
"I have never left the President and neither has he… We’re making an appointment with her but in the meantime things are going well (with us). I believe that she trusts me because we’ve been friends for some time," Cojuangco said.
On Mrs. Aquino, she said: "We’re a family and we’re always together as a family but on political issues we may differ but it doesn’t break any family relations."
The Cojuangcos’ lawyers are now evaluating the case they may file against Sindayen for alleged "lying" and fabricating a story though they did not include Time magazine in the charge sheet.
Cojuangco said unlike Saycon and Sindayen, her husband had presented himself to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and their house was inspected. — Aurea Calica
"Saycon and Sindayen did not bother because they are guilty," Cojuangco said, though maintaining that there is no need to ask for an apology from Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez who released the information implicating them in the failed coup attempt on the eve of the anniversary of the EDSA People’s Power celebration.
"What they say, they can pursue… That’s our attitude," Cojuangco said. — Aurea Calica