Although President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III said he hopes for the resolution of the conflict between his running mate Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Vice President-elect Jejomar “Jojo” Binay, reconciling the two camps is not an immediate agenda of his administration.

Aquino said this after he met with allies of Binay and Roxas last Monday at his residence at 25 Times Street, West Triangle, Quezon City. He said bringing the two camps at the reconciliation table was not the agenda of the meeting because for one, he spoke with Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero and former Education Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad, separately.

While Escudero was labeled as a “king-maker” for having endorsed the “Noy-Bi” tandem that emerged victorious in the 2010 presidential and vice presidential races, Abad is a known Roxas ally and was the Liberal Party’s campaign manager.

“(Bringing them to the reconciliation table) is not my immediate concern but it is part of it because both of them supported my candidacy. I assume both of them wanted me to succeed in the agenda (just like the) people that are allied with them who are hoping to get on board to advance our agenda of change,” Aquino told reporters in a chance interview outside his residence.

Without particularly referring to Binay and Roxas, Aquino said what is important for him is unifying his supporters rather than encouraging division.

“Instead of focusing on the points of view that divides us, why don’t we focus instead on those that unite us? The earlier we resolve our differences, the earlier we could move forward to resolving the country's ills,” the incoming President said.

For his part, Escudero said he is not meeting Aquino as Binay’s envoy, also clarifying that he is not at odds with Roxas.

“Senator Roxas and I haven’t fought about or discussed something in the last few months so there is no need to extend a hand. If we meet again, I hope everything goes back the way it was before the campaign and the election,” Escudero added.