MANILA, Philippines -- The Marcos family should first repent and publicly apologize to the people before they seek reconciliation with the Aquino family, Senator Aqulino Pimentel Jr. said on Tuesday.

Reconciliation can also be achieved if the Marcoses return the money they allegedly stole from public coffers, Pimentel said, after the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos? children, Ilocos Norte Representative Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Imee Marcos, visited the wake of the late President Corazon Aquino.

The senator said there should also be a closure as to who masterminded the killing of former Senator Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr. in 1983, one of the sparks that ignited the 1986 People Power dictatorship that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.

Pimentel, who served as Mrs. Aquino?s interior secretary, said the simple ?gesture of sympathy? from the Marcos children should not be seen as an act leading to the reconciliation of the Aquino and Marcos families.

?Malayo pa yan, gesture lang of sympathy yan. Alangan namang ipagbawal mo ang gustong makiramay [That?s still far away. That?s a mere gesture of sympathy. They can?t prevent anyone from offering condolences],? Pimentel said, referring to the prospects of a reconciliation between the two families.

?Maraming kahulugan ang reconciliation. Ibalik ang perang nawala sa bansa. Hindi lang napunta sa labi ni Cory, reconciliation na [Reconciliation means many things. Return the money that was lost, not just going to Cory?s wake],? he said in a phone interview.