Shaking hands with arch-enemies

President Gloria Arroyo’s apology Friday for accusing whistleblower Acsa Ramirez of wrongdoing bared her conciliatory mood. Later that day she invited opponents to a summit to ease the boiling political pot. And as the NBI chief took the cue and said sorry too to Ramirez for wrongly suing her, Mrs. Arroyo directed her Malacañang staff to contact Congress leaders and rush preparations for the political meeting.

There is urgent need to stabilize the situation, said Senate President Franklin Drilon, who suggested the summit to the President. The peso and stock market have dropped following the July 27 coup attempt, and some Opposition men outside Congress are agitating more military discontent by demanding that Mrs. Arroyo step down. A summit would craft ways to "remove these destabilization moves," Drilon said. Mainstream Opposition leaders agreed. Minority Leader Vicente Sotto III said he would urge his LDP partymates to attend. Sen. Tessie Oreta, who had earlier called for a snap election, welcomed the idea "to ease the edgy political atmosphere instead of sliding deeper into paranoia." Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, PDP-Laban head, was also amenable.

Questions quickly arose, however, on who else would be in the guest list. Sotto said Sen. Loi Ejercito can represent her spouse, deposed former president Joseph Estrada. But members of Estrada’s PMP said their leader must be let out of jail to attend. Political advisers tried to second-guess if Mrs. Arroyo was ready to shake hands with Sen. Gregorio Honasan, whom the Administration has charged with leading the failed coup. And what about Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who is accusing First Gentleman Mike Arroyo of corruption? And former education chief and senator Raul Roco, too, a declared presidential aspirant but who is no longer in any position?

Honasan and Lacson, 1971 military academy classmates, both said they would join if invited. But AFP and PNP intelligence reports identify them among political rivals who continue to plot Mrs. Arroyo’s violent ouster. Without naming names, AFP vice chief Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia last weekend confirmed continuing coup threats from "the political component of the group that mutinied in Oakwood (hotel July 27)." National Security Adviser Roilo Golez had earlier linked PMP president Horacio Morales to the plot. He told a Senate inquiry that Estrada’s former agrarian reform chief had mobilized loyalists of their jailed idol to take over EDSA Shrine and the adjacent Asian Development Bank, but were halted by barricading soldiers.

The persisting threat was the reason defense secretary Angelo Reyes resigned Thursday. While the foiled coup was joined mostly by captains and lieutenants, intelligence gatherings have it that a "second wave" could be led by generals. Senior officers have long been grumbling over Reyes’s supposed "micromanagement of the AFP." Most apparent in a "revolving-door policy" of appointing alleged favorites that he sold to Mrs. Arroyo, Reyes was murmured to have meddled in promotions and postings. Questions about a P10-million house he is building also hounded him out of office.

Military reforms was among the common agenda that Speaker Jose de Venecia proposed to ruling coalition allies and Opposition leaders days after the July 27 incident. He also talked to them about the possibility of promoting a common presidential candidate in 2004, one who would agree to sit for only three years then preside over a switch to parliamentary form of government. De Venecia declined to give names for the meantime, "because I do not have their permission and have yet to submit a draft of the common reform agenda." But he said that four major parties, two huge lay religious groups, and two influential Catholic bishops support the idea of a common candidate who can end the partisan bickering.

De Venecia’s planned "coalition of conciliation" would be a tough act, considering that the guest list for Drilon’s proposed summit is turning out to be contentious.

Summiteers from both sides of the political fence already are crafting minimum demands before proceeding. "We have political differences, but there are certain basic principles we can all agree on," Drilon beamed with optimism. "A summit would make possible direct interaction or dialogue of political leaders, regardless of persuasion." Easier said than done, what with Administration leaders anticipating Estrada’s segment of the Opposition to demand his transfer from hospital detention to house arrest while undergoing trial for plunder. Mrs. Arroyo’s civil society supporters would howl that the matter is non-negotiable and only the court can allow it. Worse, house arrest could be a security nightmare. Estrada already has defined house arrest to mean not only the one he shares with Senator Ejercito, but the many mansions of his mistresses as well.

On the Administration side, Sen. Robert Barbers will ask for limits to the power of Congress to conduct investigations. "Congress as a rule must concentrate on legislation, and refrain from investigations of involving exposés, anomalies and criminal offenses in government." The Opposition will certainly disagree, and invoke its fiscalizing role.

Drilon suggested that former presidents Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos be invited as well "to show unity to our people." To which Pimentel quickly shot back: "There should be no monopoly of the dialogue."

In lauding the idea of dialogue, Oreta said "both Malacañang and the Opposition should not squander this rare opportunity to forge a bipartisan agenda." Maverick Sen. Joker Arroyo was pessimistic as ever. "It’s worth a try," he said, but wondered how the nation’s leaders can come to any agreement "if they meet with drawn daggers behind their backs."

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