Arroyo calls for reconciliation with opposition

President Arroyo extended yesterday a hand of reconciliation to the political opposition as she called for the forging of a national consensus and unity to move the country forward in the aftermath of recent political upheavals.

"To members of the opposition, I am extending the hand of reconciliation, of friendship and I am appealing to you to set aside old politics," Mrs. Arroyo said.

This developed as Malacañang remained hopeful that the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) would sweep the Senate race, ignoring initial canvass results showing independent candidate Noli de Castro and at least five opposition bets led by former Sen. Edgardo Angara making it to the winning circle.

In a statement written in Filipino, the President thanked the Commission on Elections (Comelec), school teachers, the military and police, as well as volunteers and non-government organizations who helped in the conduct of Monday’s elections.

Mrs. Arroyo also called on all political parties and candidates to forget their quarrels and differences that marked their campaigns.

Taking exception to observations that the just-concluded polls were a proxy war between her and jailed former President Joseph Estrada, Mrs. Arroyo said it was not a fight between her and her predecessor, nor a referendum on the legitimacy of her leadership.

"This issue is already resolved with the Supreme Court having thrice upheld the legitimacy (of my presidency)," she said.

"The election is about Filipinos against enemies of democracy, Filipinos against cheats, Filipinos against old politics," the President stressed.

Having cast their votes, the people should now unite to face the dangers confronting society and progress, Mrs. Arroyo said.

She admitted that Monday’s political exercise was not exactly perfect as it was marred by violence and failure of many voters to cast their ballots due to some technical problems.

The President also cited the need for the Comelec to cleanse its voters’ list and implement the long-delayed computerization program to speed up the electoral process.

"Elections are an important part of democracy. Strength of democracy and government lies in the success of elections so it is now time for an orderly system of elections," she said.

Meanwhile, Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao said the Arroyo administration will make a last-ditch effort to enable PPC tailenders to catch up and enter the so-called "magic 13."

"At this time, we are still hoping that the 13-0 would still come about. It’s important for the administration to push until the end for 13-0, the reason being there might be some candidates who might think we’re giving up on them," Tiglao said.

"That’s why were pushing for the 13-0. Whether that’s unrealistic or not is irrelevant," Tiglao told reporters at the Palace.

He indicated that the 10th to 13th slots were still anybody’s race as the margins were very slim.

Meanwhile, the latest bulletin released by the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) showed that PPC still leads the senatorial race with eight of its candidates in the winning circle.

Supreme Court hears party-list case

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear today oral arguments on a petition filed by the militant party list group Bayan Muna and the Overseas Filipino Workers-ang Bagong Bayani seeking the disqualification of frontrunning party list group Mamamayan Ayaw sa Droga (MAD) whose top nominee for a sectoral seat is movie actor Richard Gomez.

A similar petition was lodged against MAD by Akbayan headed by Rep. Etta Rosales before the Comelec.

The justice department has said MAD should be disqualified because it was put up using government funds.

A High Tribunal resolution said the Comelec may not declare any winner in the party-list election, but may proceed with the counting.

MAD tops the party-list votes with 87,666 followed by Bayan Muna headed by former National Democratic Front spokesman Satur Ocampo with 59,0035. – With reports from Sandy Araneta, Romel Bagares, Mayen Jaymalin