The Palace said that reconciliations should not come with conditions, following the statement of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on his openness to reconcile with Vice President Sara Duterte and her family.

"Yes. This is for the people and for the country", Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing on Wednesday in response to whether the President's offer for reconciliation should not come with any conditions.

Senator-elect Bong Go told reporters in a chance interview that the first step on showing sincerity in the offer of reconciliation is to bring back former President Rodrigo Duterte to the country.

Duterte is under the custody of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague after he was arrested and brought to the Netherlands last March 11.

"What's important here (reconciliation) is sincerity ... and the first step there is to bring back home Tatay Digong (Duterte). If you can bring Tatay Digong in a span of 14 hours I know that you can bring him back here as soon as possible" Go said.

In an interview with The Big Story on Tuesday night, Salvador Panelo, former presidential legal counsel of Duterte, said that the reconciliation is possible if Duterte will be brought back to the country.

"The reason why there's a split is because of their policy called retribution and persecution ... so the only way by which you can make a closure on that particular issue is to bring him (Duterte) back to see if your willingness to reconcile is sincere" , Panelo added.

Panelo said that bringing back the former President is "easy" as the Supreme Court has jurisdiction and "can compel this government to correct the error since there was an irregularity in the arrest given the fact that the ICC has no jurisdiction even if you look at the Rome Statute or the extradition law in the country"

However, Castro stressed that the reconciliation should not center on the Duterte family and that the President will not go against the law for it.

"Tandaan po natin, hindi po magpapahawak sa leeg at hindi po magpapadikta ang Pangulo sa mali. Hindi po tatalikuran at babaligtarin ng Pangulo ang batas para lamang pagsilbihan ang personal na interes ng iilan", Castro said.

"So let us not center this openness to reconciliation on the Dutertes. The President will not violate the law just for a mere reconciliation", Castro added. Marie Manalili/DMS