RECONCILIATION WITH GMA DIM AS LONG
AS SCANDALS REMAIN UNRESOLVED

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Nene Q. Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyos renewed overtures for reconciliation with her political foes will not yield positive results for as long as the controversies in her government remain unresolved and the repression of civil liberties continues under her administration.

Without sincerity and determination to cleanse herself and her government of the misdeeds and sins against the people, her call for reconciliation is a hollow and futile gesture, he said.

Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo should stop treating the Filipino people as fools by thinking that political normalcy would return after the impeachment case against her was arbitrarily trashed by the House justice committee.

How can the people accept her appeal for reconciliation and unity after seeing that the complaint against her was thrown out without allowing the impeachment advocates to present their evidence? he said.

As long as the issues thrown at the President remain unanswered, the people will always think that she is trying to deceive them. And political unrest in the country will not subside.

The minority leader said the people cannot accept an undemocratic situation where Cabinet members and other executive officials are prevented by Malacañang from testifying before the Senate inquiry into scandals that have rocked the administration.

Pimentel decried that even officials of the Professional Regulatory Commission were barred by the Palace to testify before the Senate in its inquiry into the leakage into the nursing licensure examination and the utilization of the overseas workers welfare fund.

He said the people are also demanding decisive government action to solve and put an end to political killings.

Reacting to President Arroyos attendance in ceremonies marking the 23rd anniversary of the martyrdom of Senator Ninoy Aquino, Pimentel said Mrs. Arroyo is trying to show that she is one with the people in honoring the legacy the principles and goals for which the late senator sacrificed his life.

The problem with the President is that her actions do not match her rhetoric insofar as reforms and good governances are concerned.