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SPEAKER
José de Venecia Jr. on Tuesday asked the electorate to
reject the candidacies in the coming elections of
legislators who fail to attend the two-day special
session that was called by President Arroyo.
De
Venecia called on the voters to shun the candidacies for
whatever position of members of the House of
Representatives and even the Senate who absent
themselves in the special sessions on February 19 and
20.
“What
happens if we don’t get a quorum . . . then we cannot
pass any bill,” de Venecia said.
Earlier,
members of the House minority including Laban Rep. Rolex
Suplico of Iloilo said that the special session called
by the Chief Executive is just a “waste of time,” as
they doubted if Congress can muster a quorum.
Suplico
said that the House, specifically, would just be wasting
taxpayers’ money, as he recalled that Thursday’s last
session of the House was abruptly adjourned after it did
not have enough number due to the absence of
administration congressmen.
Arroyo
called the special session for the House to pass pending
bills that are urgent including the antiterrorism
measure, which the Senate has already passed on its
third and final reading before Congress took its
election break last week.
House
majority leader Prospero Nograles faulted the Senate for
the House’s failure to pass the measure, as he recalled
that the antiterrorism bill was transmitted to the
chamber at the last hour of the session day.
Senate
minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. voiced fears that
the February 19 and 20 special session called by
Malacañang is just a ruse to raise campaign funds for
Arroyo administration candidates through the “Ten
Billion Trees” bill that the Palace wants passed even
after Congress has adjourned regular sessions.
“The
special session is simply a ploy to create a political
slush fund out of the appropriations intended to be
applied to the so-called 10 billion trees project,”
Pimentel said.
He told
reporters that the money that will be apportioned to
pro-Arroyo bets could add up to a huge pile at an
estimated P1.00 per tree, for instance.
The
administration, Pimentel added, will “dole out the funds
to its cohorts all over the land in the guise of funding
the 10 billion trees project.”
“It is
not difficult to imagine that it will do that,” he said.
“Look at what happened to the Road Users Tax fund, the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration funds and, I
heard, the Government Service Insurance System-Social
Security System funds,too.”
Pimentel
added that as far as President Arroyo is concerned, it
is “anything goes so she could stay in power forever.”
Malacañang on Tuesday expressed confidence that the
House of Representatives will muster a quorum during the
special session of Congress from February 19 to 20,
despite concerns to the contrary.
Press
Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a news briefing that the
two-day special session would give participating
lawmakers a chance to “display statesmanship” by
sacrificing a couple of days to work on priority bills
such as the anti-terrorism bill.
Asked to
comment on the call of Suplico for the President to
call off the special session, Bunye said: “I believe
this is not the call of the opposition. I believe this
is the call of the people because what are involved here
are very important pieces of legislation which would go
to waste unless they are acted upon.” (With B. Fernandez
and M. Gonzalez) |
