President Arroyo is open to reconciliation with her political opponents with less than two months of her tumultuous nine-year term, according to a Palace official.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar, however, said they have yet to see any “positive body signals” from the apparent incoming Aquino leadership for the same gesture.

Olivar said the next leadership should always be in favor of unity and reconciliation and moving forward “not only because we Filipinos culturally prefer to have harmonious conditions” but to govern the country effectively.

“The President is always open to anything that will be good for the country,” he said in a news conference in the Palace, asked if the outgoing leader is willing to reconcile with Aquino.

In a display of her readiness to bury the hatchet, he said the President has already placed the entire administration at the disposal of the incoming leadership as part of the smooth transition of power. “It is up to the incoming president to do what he needs to do in order to govern the way he has been asked to govern by our people,” he said.

So far, Olivar observed that Aquino, the emerging winner of the presidential elections, has shown his resistance to any reconciliation with the Arroyo administration. His refusal to accept the appointment of Chief Justice Renato Corona is one of the indicators he was reluctant to patch up with the President, he added.

Aquino, the leading contender in the presidential elections based on partial vote count, has disclosed plans to take his oath of office before a barangay official in Tarlac rather than follow the tradition of swearing in before the chief justice. He also intends to launch an investigation into the alleged irregularities hounding the Arroyo government once proclaimed president of the country.

“With the current posturing that is going on, on the part of the incoming administration, we wouldn’t be surprised if they are waiting for some positive signals from the incoming administration,” Olivar said when asked if the President is already reaching out to the Aquino camp.

“As long as you’re threatening to take your oath before a barangay captain, just because the Chief Justice is appointed by the outgoing president, that is not a very encouraging signal,” he added.

Olivar said the President is no longer bothered by the constant attacks by Aquino and would rather focus on the facilitating the seamless handover of power and communicating her history of legacy.

The President is also preparing for her new life in public service as a member of the House of Representatives and now chairman of the ruling party, he added. Mrs. Arroyo recently clinched a  landslide victory in the congressional race in the second district of Pampanga.

He said people should be concerned by the impact of Aquino’s attacks on the stability of the institutions such as the Supreme Court and the prospect of unification and reconciliation.

Asked about the lesson Aquino could learn from outgoing leader, Olivar said: “The most important one is to do hard work of governing in order to be able to achieve results.” “There’s always a place for talk but President Arroyo is obviously in favor of more work and less talk,” he said.