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A
PARTY-LIST representative on Sunday assailed the camps
of Lakas Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. of Pangasinan and
Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) Rep. Pablo Garcia
of Cebu over the alleged massive amount of money that
the two are spending to woo congressmen to vote for
either of them for Speaker.
Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis said that
literally, millions of pesos were being showered on
congressmen as part of the competition for their votes.
“How can
the House of Representatives ever shake off its
reputation of being a corrupt institution when its
inside processes are constantly being exposed as
corrupt? The 14th Congress’s speakership race is so far
the most cutthroat in recent memory, and it’s outrageous
that bribery and palakasan are being tolerated and even
accepted as part of the entire process,” said Beltran.
He said
that the senior lawmakers who allow themselves to be
manipulated and bribed are serving as very poor examples
to the first-termers and the younger legislators.
Beltran said that the fight for the speakership is more
than enough to disillusion the most idealistic elected
official.
“What’s
even more shocking is how these going-ons will not even
merit the filing of a resolution for the ethics
committee to discuss and deliberate over. Where are the
political and moral ethics that members of Congress are
supposed to uphold and practice? No one seems to be
complaining or expressing shock over how this issue of
who will be House Speaker is being resolved,” he said.
The
issue on the speakership has reportedly been resolved
after de Venecia agreed on Saturday to secret balloting
by the majority coalition.
De
Venecia said he agreed to secret balloting “only at the
majority caucus to decide the common candidate for
Speaker at the election Monday.”
Kampi
Rep. Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, meanwhile, is
set to move Monday for the election of an acting Speaker
so as not to delay the President’s State of the Nation
Address (Sona) in the event of a protracted debate on
Kampi’s proposal for an election by secret ballot of the
Speaker.
Villafuerte said Kampi is confident that the lower
chamber will adopt secret balloting and elect Garcia as
Speaker when the House of Representatives formally
starts sessions at the Batasan Complex in Quezon City.
“But we
want to cover all bases so we are proposing that an
interim Speaker be chosen to welcome the President in
case the election of the regular speaker takes longer
than usual,” said Villafuerte.
Malacañang on Sunday denied reports that President
Arroyo has stepped into the speakership row and
maintained its neutral stance on the matter.
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said that
Malacañang continues to keep a hands-off policy on the
speakership race.
“No
caucus took place in Malacañang. The Palace did not see
the propriety nor advisability of directly intervening
to resolve the matter of leadership in the House,”
Claudio said.
*****
Stormy sessions in Congress
By Butch Fernandez
THE
stage is set for stormy opening sessions in the Senate
and the House of Representatives after last-ditch
efforts to settle leadership conflicts in the two
chambers collapsed on the eve of the 14th Congress
opening.
At the
Senate, feuding factions of the opposition met in
separate caucuses Sunday following failed attempts to
reunite 12 antiadministration senators bitterly divided
(8-4) in picking the next Senate President.
At least
seven oppositionists—Rodolfo Biazon, Mar Roxas, Consuelo
Madrigal, Panfilo Lacson, Loren Legarda, Noynoy Aquino
and Antonio Trillanes—are pushing for Sen. Aquilino
Pimentel against three others, with Jinggoy Estrada,
Chiz Escudero and Alan Cayetano backing incumbent Senate
President Manuel Villar.
Pimentel, however, said Villar could retain the
presidency after getting the support of senators
identified with the administration—Miriam Santiago,
Richard Gordon, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, Pia Cayetano,
Edgardo Angara, Joker Arroyo, Miguel Zubiri and
independents Francis Pangilinan, Gregorio Honasan and
Juan Ponce Enrile—besides Estrada, Escudero and Cayetano.
Pimentel, who is touted to retain his post as Senate
Minority Leader, confirmed to reporters that the
opposition senators’ meeting was intended to solidify
their ranks and firm up the opposition’s legislative
agenda for the 14th Congress.
While
they agreed to push congressional inquiries into
extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of
political activists, starting with the abduction of
agriculturist Jonas Burgos, Pimentel said opposition
senators would not be an “obstructionist” bloc and would
support administration measures that genuinely benefit
the people. |
