NEGOTIATION
Norbi visited Erap in Tanay.
Norbi says, ‘twas no big deal, as in literally “no deal”. No agreement was reached during the visit because they supposedly didn’t talk about a possible pardon. Gonzales added… the visit was purely a personal choice and that he didn’t even ask permission from President Arroyo.
Thing is, the visit came at a time when the Sandiganbayan is said to be ready to hand out its verdict on Erap’s plunder case. It also came at a time when there’s a lot of buzz about negotiations between the concerned parties for a possible pardon for the deposed President.
Sec. Gonzales stressed that he didn’t offer Estrada anything when hey talked and claimed that Erap didn’t ask for anything from them, too.
The news came from National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales himself. Most of the TV teams didn’t get his soundbyte because there were other officials available for ambush interview (“officials overload” that usually happens every time there’s a cabinet meeting in Malacanang). What most of us did was to contact Norbi and ask him to give soundbytes by phone patch.
Later in the day I learned from two fellow palace reporters that the visitation actually happened more than a week ago and that some of them knew about it, but Sec. Gonzales supposedly asked to keep it a “secret” and “off the record”.
Hence the question of another reporter: “why keep something like a simple visit a secret if it is, supposedly, a friendly visit?”
Someone jokingly remarked, “iintrigahin daw kasi ng media at ng mga kalaban!”
Going back….
Despite the supposed “non political visit”, Norbi admitted that he gave Erap an unsolicited advise, he asked the former president not to entertain the proposals of some people around him to launch or support destabilization efforts.
President Arroyo remained distant to the issue of giving her predecessor pardon.
But in her opening statement during the cabinet meeting today, she managed to convey the message of how important healing and reconciliation is for an administration that wants to move forward and work on the economy.
PGMA: “Sa mga dekadang nagdaan, nagkaruon din ng pagkakataong ganito an gating bansa, subalit sa ligalig sa politika, natakot ang mga investor at nahinto ang pag unlad. Ngayon bumalik na ang capital at negosyo, at dapat tayong kapit bisig upang wakasan ang hidwaan ligalig at dahas na tumutakot sa mamumuhunan noon”
But even if most palace officials are shying away from talking about pardoning Erap if he’s found guilty of plunder….Interior and Local Govt Secretary Ronaldo Puno, a former Estrada official, thinks that the possibility of an Erap pardon may not be far fetched after all.
During the ambush interview, he reportedly said: “The president is seriously in pursuit of national reconciliation so pwede nga i-consider yung pardon. But we still have to wait for the decision of the Sandiganbayan.”
Here’s the full report that aired in SENTRO (ABC 5 9:30pm M-F)
Here’s the live report for ABC5’s BIG NEWS (6:45pm M-F)
Scooby Doo Meets Batman full movie
By the way, during the on air discussion about the issues from Malacanang in ABC 5’s Big News, our anchor, Cheri Mercado asked me about the supposed “hinanakit or tampo sa media” that the President expressed when she delivered her opening statement during the cabinet meeting.
Here’s what PGMA actually said:
“Mga kababayan, hindi man gaanong nababalita, nagdaragsaan na ang mga positibong ulat ng mga eksperto tungkol sa kagila-gilalas na paglago ng ating ekonomiya, pinakamalakas sa dalawang dekada. Mangyari, nagaganap na sa Pilipinas ang uri ng growth rate na ipinamalas ng Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore at Tsina: mahigit 7% ang paglago ng ekonomiya at 10% pagtaas ng pamumuhunan o investment. Ito ang itinuro ng Asia Development Bank na susi sa paglaya ng bansa sa hirap. Sama-sama nating ituloy ito, at maaabot ng Pilipinas ang kasaganaan at kaunlaran, gaya ng ating mga kalapit-bansa.”
I told Cheri that a lot of MPC reporters, including myself, didn’t make a big deal out of that one liner. In fact, I didn’t even advise the quote to my desk officer. First of all, there’s nothing new with the President feeling that way about the way media covers her administration (nag “open forum” pa nga sa New York, hindi ba?). How many times have we heard her and her official, Sec. Ric Saludo (Mr. I Blame the Media, as some industry members call him…) air their “tampo sa media” countless times already? That’s their opinion and they are entitled to it.
(BTW, A reporter pointed out that the Filipino translation of the President’s opening statement sounds a lot like the way, Mr. Hmmmm-you- know-who-you- are, writes, ika nga “sounds family!”, if that line really was your doing, eh sus, ikaw na ikaw nga iyan, Sir! Halata po. It has become a habit of yours already, it is so easy for you to blame the media every time things go wrong.)
Train Master psp
If you ask me, the real score can easily be determined. Is it really true that the local media don’t publish or air news about the administration? Are we really not doing our job? Review the broadcasts (I know RTVM records the newscasts), review the newspapers (may file ng clippings sa OPS or sa PIA). Huwag na tayo lumayo, pakitignan ang mga balita regarding GDP and GNP, that’s the most recent big issue right? PGMA is a busy woman, her people monitor for her, hindi ba nila nasabi sa kaniya na kahit ang Forbes 100 Powerful Women list and the Wall Street Journal Asia banner was reported in major broadcasts?
We don’t mind delivering the good news but don’t blame us if people are skeptical about your positive declarations.
