Inquirer Editorial

Editorial : Reconciliation

RECONCILIATION is the word of the month for the administration of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The President wants to be reconciled with former President Joseph Estrada, supposedly in the interest of national unity. But what kind of reconciliation is it going to be? Going by media accounts, it appears it's going to be anything but a principled one.

Estrada wants to be released from detention as a condition for reconciliation. But legal luminaries, led by Sen. Joker Arroyo, have said that that is not possible unless the law is first amended. Estrada is facing a charge of plunder, which, being a capital offense, is not bailable. If Estrada is to be released on recognizance, the law on plunder has to be amended first to reduce the penalty.

But why amend the law for the benefit of just one man? What makes Estrada's case so unique, so extraordinary that he should deserve such an unprecedented treatment?

Senator Arroyo also said that Estrada cannot be pardoned unless he is first convicted by the courts. That rules out both release on recognizance and pardon at this point.

If Estrada were to be released on recognizance, it would mean the President's interference in the decisions of the Sandiganbayan anti-graft court that is trying the case against her predecessor. That would violate the constitutional principle of separation of powers.

That President Arroyo wants to be reconciled with Estrada is understandable. At this crucial point in her public life, she needs as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible. She needs to "neutralize" the former president who, at the El Shaddai Catholic charismatic group's rally only last Saturday night, showed that he still weaves that old magic and charisma that can mesmerize the masses. A still influential Estrada can indeed be a potent enemy who, even from his detention resthouse in Tanay town, near Manila, can mobilize tens of thousands in the event that the debate over impeachment spills out into the streets.

We are for reconciliation and we are for national unity, especially at this time when the economy is in danger of going over the brink. But it must be a principled reconciliation, one that will not require the amendment of laws or a violation of the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the intervention of one department of government in another.

It appears that the President is ready and willing to do anything, even violate the Constitution and the laws, just to get into the good graces of Estrada. Ever since she replaced Estrada as his constitutional successor in 2001, she has been accommodating almost all of his requests. First he was transferred from a detention cell in the Camp Crame police general headquarters to a suite at the Veterans Memorial Hospital. Later, he was moved to a detention house in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. He was transferred to Camp Capinpin in Tanay. Then, he was allowed to transfer to his resthouse, also in Tanay.

Estrada has been allowed to leave his detention house on various occasions, such as the birthday of his mother and more recently, the rally of El Shaddai. He was allowed to go to Hong Kong to undergo a knee operation. While in Hong Kong, he stayed at a luxurious apartment, had gourmet dinners and lived it up. He has not been treated as a detainee facing the capital crime of plunder. Others of less prominence and lower station than him are being treated worse. So what can he complain of?

Two former South Korean presidents -- Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan -- were treated like ordinary prisoners when they were detained on graft and corruption charges. They wore the usual prison garb and stayed in an ordinary prison together with the other prisoners. They were not given extraordinary treatment. Here, Estrada is being given special treatment and he still complains about his situation.

Let Estrada continue to suffer detention while the plunder case against him is being tried. If he believes he is not guilty and wants to be released soon, he and his lawyers should do everything to speed up the hearing of the case. Right now, they are doing everything, resorting to every technicality in the law books, to delay a possible guilty verdict.

If the former president is not guilty, the court will rule so and release him immediately. If he is guilty, the court will also rule so and order the imposition of the appropriate penalty on him. Reconciliation talks between him and the Arroyo administration can in the meantime continue, but they should discuss a principled reconciliation, not one that would involve the violation of the Constitution and the laws, and the principles of justice.