Photo shows President Arroyo holding the arm of former President Joseph Estrada as they march during a wedding procession last Saturday at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral. Estrada and Arroyo served as principal sponsors. (CHERYL T. BALDICANTOS)

CEBU CITY – President Arroyo graciously extended her hand to former President Joseph Estrada as they were briefly reunited in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral last Saturday during the wedding of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia’s daughter.

Estrada was already inside the church when President Arroyo and her party arrived. Estrada gave the President a polite nod, which Arroyo acknowledged with a polite smile.

Then Arroyo extended her hand for what observers believed was a historical handshake that had never been seen since Arroyo took over the Presidency in 2001

The handshake came again when Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who officiated the wedding mass of Christina Esperanza Garcia Codilla and Liloan (Cebu) Mayor Vincent Franco Frasco, urged everyone to offer each other the sign of peace.

Estrada took the initiative by approaching Arroyo and offering his hand in a gesture of peace. Cameras clicked but other than the handshakes and the nodding, the two political rivals didn’t say a word during the entire wedding.

Arroyo and Estrada were sponsors in the wedding, as were Vice President Noli de Castro and Senator Loren Legarda, who both ran against each other for the vice presidency in 2004, a contest that ended bitterly for the two former broadcasters.

“They were very civil,” said Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, as Estrada escorted President Arroyo on their way out of the church following the wedding.

Estrada held the left hand of Arroyo as he escorted her to her vehicle just outside the church. The scene drew overwhelming applause from the people who saw the spectacle.

Arroyo, however, did not join Estrada at the reception as Remonde said the President was not attending the wedding feast in deference to the 10-day period of mourning she declared at the passing away of former president Corazon Aquino.

Governor Garcia thanked both Arroyo and Estrada for their graciousness in accepting the invitation.

“Let’s give them the credit. It’s a chance for us to start again,” Garcia said.

In his homily, Cardinal Vidal sai d that “no matter what family you come from, whether from a prominent political clan or from an ordinary working class family, all weddings are the same. It is a bond between man and woman, made by God in His own image to sanctify human love and to share His divine power of creating the human person.”

Vidal said that “coming from political families on both sides, you have the added responsibility of living and loving well for the sake of your people. Let no politics get in the way of your love for each other and for your children. Remember, you may be in office for sometime, but you will be married till death do you part.”

The Cardinal reminded Christina and Duke that “power may be a heady brew for one who is intoxicated with it, but in the twilight of one’s years, it is the family who stays with you, who will take care of you, long after your constituents have forgotten you.”

Among the guests in last Saturday’s weeding were Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri, former senator Ernesto Maceda, Rep. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Tourism Undersecretary Phineas Alburo, businessmen Roberto Aboitiz, Michel Lhuillier, Carlos and Mariguita Salimbangon Yeung, Antique Governor Salvacion Perez, GSIS president Winston Garcia, Reps. Pablo Garcia, Pablo John Garcia, Benhur Salimbangon, and Antonio Cuenco, to name just a few.

Remonde said the two presidents were “civil” to each other as wedding sponsors to the union of Liloan Mayor Vincent Franco and lawyer Maria Esperanza Christina Codilla at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral last Saturday.

Asked about how the President felt during her meeting with Estrada,

Remonde said: “She does not hold a grudge. Napakalinis ng puso ng ating Pangulo kahit na doon sa mga bumabatikos sa kanya. Balewala naman sa kanya yan dahil she is daily churchgoer."

“That’s why she is always at peace and she is able to focus on the things that she needs to do despite all the unfair accusations against her,” he said.

Remonde said the latest encounter between the President and her predecessor should encourage “political civility” among politicians as the 2010 national and local elections draw near.

“It was a very good sight to behold, to see two of our political leaders like that. We need political civility and not politics of hatred especially with the upcoming elections,” he said.

“I think it will be good for our country na magkaroon ng political, not necessarily reconciliation pero but yung political civiity lang among our leaders,” he added.

From the information he obtained from the President, Remonde said Estrada praised Mrs. Arroyo for her fluency in the Visayan dialect during their brief conversation at the wedding rites.

The reunion between the two leaders ended after the mass. Estrada also told the President that he was attending the reception at the Cebu International Convention Center after the wedding mass. “Pero sinabi ni Pangulong Gloria na hindi muna siya pupunta sa reception dahil keeping with the 10 -day period of mourning na she has declared for Tita Cory,” Remonde said.

Other principal sponsors were Vice President Noli de Castro and Senator Loren Legarda, who were also locked in a bitter battle over the vice presidential race in 2004. (With a report from Genalyn Kabiling)