MANILA, Philippines?President-elect Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III is eager to settle the differences among his allies?specifically between his losing running mate Senator Manuel ?Mar? Roxas II and Senator Francis ?Chiz? Escudero, who endorsed Vice President-elect Jejomar Binay.

Escudero and Liberal Party campaign manager Florencio Abad Jr., a Roxas ally, met at Aquino?s residence in Quezon City Monday.

Interviewed by reporters outside the house, Aquino admitted that while an electoral protest to be filed by Roxas against Binay could be a thorny issue, he was confident the Roxas and Escudero camps could reach some sort of détente for the sake of the country.

?I will tell them that instead of concentrating on the things that we disagree on, we should concentrate on things that we agree on. We agree that there are many problems and that we cannot delay the solutions; and we agree that we have a responsibility to those depending on us to start solving our problems soon because we want to have the results as early as possible. I think everybody agrees to that,? said Aquino.

Escudero arrived at Aquino?s residence around mid-afternoon, a few minutes after Abad went inside.

Aquino said he was meeting with Escudero and Abad separately but that he was planning to sit them together at one table.

Aquino said he considered Abad a stalwart of the Liberal Party, and that he was keen on giving the latter a post in his administration.

At the same time, Aquino said he considered Escudero a friend since they found themselves on the same side of the 2005 impeachment case against President Macapagal-Arroyo. ?We have found common cause in old issues except for the candidacy of my partner Mar Roxas,? said Aquino, who added that it was Escudero who asked for the meeting.

Aquino, however, stressed that he would not interfere in the reported leadership shake-up in the incoming Senate even if his LP peers and Escudero were among those being touted as the next Senate president.

?I have to respect the body. It is one of the institutions that I have to rebuild because the Senate, by tradition, has to be independent and a fiscalizer, although I hope there would not be much need for them to fiscalize,? he said.

He said he wanted to avoid a situation where the Senate?s power to investigate?for example, the NBN-ZTE deal?was hampered by the move of a Cabinet official invoking executive privilege, which weakened the Senate.