MANILA, 21 August 2005 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is open to reconciling with her deposed predecessor Joseph Estrada but will not stop his trial at the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court, Malaca?ang Palace said yesterday.

“The president has always been for extending the hand of unity and principled reconciliation based on peace, justice and the rule of law,” presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said in reaction to reports that Arroyo was seeking to make peace with Estrada.

Environment Secretary Michael Defensor, Arroyo's political troubleshooter, told Inquirer editors and reporters on Thursday night that reconciliation talks had begun between the Arroyo and Estrada camps, with Estrada seeking his release from house arrest in Tanay, Rizal, on recognizance as a condition.

Local media yesterday speculated that proponents of an Arroyo-Estrada reconciliation wanted the two to meet during a prayer rally of the El Shaddai religious group, which was celebrating the birthday of its leader, Jose Velarde, at Manila's sprawling Rizal Park.

Estrada was allowed by the Sandiganbayan a furlough from house arrest to attend the marathon prayer rally of the El Shaddai.

As reportedly planned, the two leaders were to shake hands during the prayer rally in a symbolic start of the reconciliation process.

However, sources said the plan was scrapped because it was "leaked" to media, eliciting criticisms from groups and individuals who suspected that Arroyo was trying to make peace with her foe at the expense of justice.

Estrada is under trial for plunder for allegedly stealing millions of pesos in his short stay in office as president.

A source in the Estrada camp said the two leaders were “willing” but their closest allies had second thoughts about allowing the duo to be seen together greeting the influential Brother Mike, their common ally.

Their appearance on stage was then scheduled almost four hours apart, narrowing the chance they would meet for a symbolic and potentially controversial handshake.

Their respective close aides reportedly dissuaded them from sharing the same time slot last night.

On Hold

A source close to Arroyo also told the Inquirer that the reconciliation talks with Estrada had been put on hold because of how the back-channel efforts had been leaked to the media.

“The president is angry, (Speaker Jose) de Venecia is angry, and Estrada is angry. Nobody is interested to continue with the talks so far,” said the source, a top official of a leading business group.

This could explain why Arroyo suddenly ordered the Office of the Press Secretary to bar the Malaca?ang press corps from covering her meeting last night with El Shaddai’s Velarde.

The OPS announced Friday night that a bus would ferry the press corps to the Quirino Grandstand at 7:30 p.m. last night. But it canceled the press coverage before lunch yesterday.

Arroyo ‘Ploy’

Senate President Franklin Drilon said Arroyo and her political lieutenants had no business talking about Estrada’s being released on recognizance.

“(Plunder) is a non-bailable crime,” Drilon said. “(Estrada) is under the jurisdiction and custody of the court... There should be no intervention from Malaca?ang.”

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said it would be to Arroyo’s “advantage” to reconcile with Estrada.

“But I don’t think he will fall for that because it’s very clear it’s just a ploy for her self-interest,” Pimentel said.

Environment Secretary Michael Defensor told Inquirer editors and reporters on Thursday night that reconciliation talks had begun between the Arroyo and Estrada camps, with Estrada seeking his release from house arrest in Tanay, Rizal, on recognizance as a condition.

Recognizance involves the release of an accused without bail to someone of high moral standing in the community.

Arroyo and Estrada last came face to face on May 29, 2001, when she visited him at his then detention suite at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City, in the early stages of his plunder trial before the Sandiganbayan.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, however, told DZXL radio that “only the Sandiganbayan” could decide on Estrada’s release. The former president had asked to be released from detention as a condition for reconciliation.

“The only thing we can do is expedite the process because we all know that justice delayed is justice denied,” Bunye said. “The president has always treated the Sandiganbayan as an independent body and has never interfered in its affairs,” he said.

Estrada’s Version

In a phone interview earlier yesterday, Estrada confirmed that he and Defensor had discussed the possibility of his being released on recognizance. But he said the discussion of the possibility was based on the merits of his plunder case, not on reconciliation.

“(All this talk of reconciliation) is not true. I’ve been detained for four years already. I think I just have to see this through,” Estrada told the Inquirer.

“They don’t have a strong case against me,” he added.

As if to further dispel talk of reconciliation, Estrada said his requests to see his mother at her residence in North Greenhills, San Juan, and to visit the tomb of his late best friend and opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. had been rejected.

He pointed out that Cardinal Santos Medical Center, where he was to have a brief checkup, was “just a few minutes away from my mama’s house.” “I wanted to have lunch with her but I was not allowed to,” he said. “I also wanted to drop by (Poe’s) tomb in Manila because the (El Shaddai gathering) is not until 9 p.m. They also didn’t allow me to do so.”

Estrada’s trip to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center was delayed by a few hours because it was raining in Tanay. The helicopter bearing him landed at 3:28 p.m. at the Crisanta Towers, where he was met by family and supporters, including members of the FPJ Volunteer Movement.

Estrada was granted permission by the Sandiganbayan on Thursday to undergo a medical checkup before proceeding to the El Shaddai gathering. Police had rejected Estrada’s initial plan of staying at the Manila Hotel across from the Rizal Park because this was not stated in the permit issued by the court. The Sandiganbayan had ordered police to return Estrada to his detention at his vacation estate in Tanay immediately after the El Shaddai prayer rally.

Estrada was not allowed to talk to the media or use a mobile phone during his furlough.

Some 500 members of the Manila Police District, backed by K-9 units and members of the Special Weapons and Tactics division, were deployed to ensure security at the prayer rally. (Input from Agence France Presse and Inquirer News Service)