The principal author of a legislative measure proposing to declare the late President Corazon C. Aquino a national hero on Friday predicted Malacañang support to the proposal.

Agusan del Sur Rep. Rodolfo Plaza said congressional approval of House Joint Resolution No. 42 and its subsequent imprimatur by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may pave the way for a reconciliation between the Aquino and the Arroyo families whose relationship was strained by politics.

Plaza, a senior member of the powerful Commission on Appointments, said he also expects bipartisan support to the measure he co-authored with Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzon-Chato.

According to Plaza the proposal will still be subjected to committee study although the information office of the Lower House issued last week a press release claiming that HR 42 is due for third and final reading approval on Saturday.

“In the hearts and minds of the Filipino people, President Cory is already their hero. But as representatives of the people, we want the world to know what she meant to all of us,” the administration solon said.

Earlier, Rep. Matias Defensor (Lakas-Kampi, QC) urged his Lower House colleagues to let history and Filipinos decide whether or not the late President Aquino should be counted among the country’s national heroes.

“I don’t think being a national hero needs the imprimatur of Congress,” Quezon City Matias Defensor Jr. told reporters in reaction to the impending adoption of House Joint Resolution No. 42.

On the other hand, Deputy Minority Leaders Roilo Golez and Satur Ocampo believe that the National Historical Institute is in a better position to conduct a study and make recommendations to proposals declaring the country’s democracy icon a national hero.

HJR 42 seeks to declare the late President a national hero in recognition of her contributions to the restoration of democracy in the country.

Stressing that he believes Aquino ranks high among his personal national heroes, Defensor explained that Congress need not issue the declaration and instead leave such decisions to the “generations of Filipinos” to come.

“General Emilio Aguinaldo and (President Ramon Magsaysay) became heroes even without congressional imprimatur. You make a hero because the Filipino people in all generations will consider a hero a hero,” Defensor told reporters during the Usaping Balita News Forum at Serye Café in Quezon City.

The chairman of the House Committee on Justice noted that Jose Abad Santos was a hero “in the hearts and minds of people” because he was selfless in offering his life to the country than cooperate with the enemy during the Japanese occupation.