Mindanao lawmaker, Nograles, is new Speaker

The House of Representatives past midnight Tuesday changed its leadership and ended the 12-year term of Pangasinan Rep. Jose C. de Venecia, Jr. (4th district) as Speaker. He was replaced by Davao Rep. Prospero C. Nograles (1st district), who was endorsed by the majority led by the President’s party Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi). Mr. de Venecia is president of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD). The chamber has 239 members, and it needs 121 votes to institute a leadership change. At the end of close to an hour of an extemporaneous privilege speech, the visibly irked Mr. de Venecia attempted a wholesale leadership change by proposing to declare all positions vacant. The House did not act on the proposal. Mr. de Venecia added: "I will join the opposition to denounce corruption," but did not elaborate if he will bolt Lakas-CMD to formally join the United Opposition. Asked about the possibility of Mr. de Venecia transferring to the opposition once he is ousted, Press Secretary Ignacio R. Bunye said the opposition must not interfere on the issue as this is an internal affair of the administration coalition. Former President Joseph E. Estrada earlier said they will welcome Mr. de Venecia once he decides to jump fences. Mr. Nograles was majority leader in the 13th Congress and is now head of the House contingent in the Commission on Appointments. A ruling coalition caucus called by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the morning tried to resolve the leadership row, but ended up allowing the contending camps to again consult their parties and resolve the issue Tuesday. But the majority in session settled the issue Monday even with the threat of Mr. de Venecia disclosing in public questionable issues hounding the government such as the scrapped National Broadband Network (NBN) that was allegedly overpriced by $200 million, and attempts to politically harass him through a case filed with the committee on ethics. Burn bridges In his speech, Mr. de Venecia, on a warpath mode, also burned his bridges with the Arroyos, reminded how he has been instrumental in the political rise of the President, that his wife Georgina is the Arroyo sons’ godmother, and questioned many deals that need to be first cleared with the Palace or have been linked with the First Family. He claimed congressmen have to beg for their pork barrel funds to be released through the President’s two sons in Congress — Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" M. Arroyo (2nd district) and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado "Dato" M. Arroyo (1st district) Mr. de Venecia revived his moral recovery program that should have addressed widespread graft and corruption. "What is happening to our country? Everything is for sale, bribery and corruption after bribery and corruption. Let us create a new majority in this House so that we will not be beholden to Malacañang like the Senate? "It pains me to say these things, but when are we going to transform our hearts, our souls? That’s why I pushed for a moral recovery program so that all of the accusations will fall aside and we can concentrate on solving the many problems of the Filipino people It is now time for us to make a change." In a text message to reporters, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Lorelei C. Fajardo said Mr. de Venecia must support his "motherhood statements with evidence." Talks of ousting Mr. de Venecia surfaced when his son, Jose III, a losing bidder in the $329-million NBN project, tagged First Gentleman Juan Miguel T. Arroyo in the alleged fraudulent deal with Chinese firm Zhong Xue Telecommunications Equipment Co. Ltd. (ZTE Corp.). It caused a stir in the administration coalition that led to the formation of the "reform bloc" spearheaded by Kampi that called for Mr. de Venecia’s ouster. Kampi National Capital Region head and Sorsogon Rep. Jose G. Solis (2nd district) said the new majority has discussed some priorities to include salary increases for House employees and the rationalization of so-called pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund. "We might also have to pause for a week and discuss who will be the new committee heads and House secretariat," he added. Mr. Solis also said that they will still discuss the new composition of the majority and the new majority leader. The administration coalition is composed of Lakas-CMD, Kampi, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Nacionalista Party (NP), Liberal Party (LP) wing of Environment Secretary Joselito L. Atienza, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, and some party-list groups. At the Senate, Senate President Manuel B. Villar, Jr., NP president, told reporters yesterday: "I don’t want to meddle in the problem of the Lower House." Many secrets Senate Majority Leader Francis N. Pangilinan, former LP chairman, said: "We cannot belittle [Mr. de Venecia], he knew many secrets of the administration. We are not surprised that even [the President’s] sons were involved to unseat Mr. de Venecia." "Obviously, we see that Malacañang did not like what happened in the ZTE [probe]. Malacañang is behind this operation," he claimed. In a chance interview, Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago said the House requires only a nine-year term leadership, but Mr. De Venecia has been the Speaker for 12 years. Ms. Santiago noted when Mr. De Venecia said he cannot control his son for implicating administration officials in the ZTE deal, now the President’s sons led the moves to oust him. "He should be prepared that his own argument against other people is used against him," she said. Senator Alan Peter S. Cayetano said if a new leader is installed, it should bring back integrity to the chamber. — Ava Kashima K. Austria, Bernard U. Allauigan and Alexis Douglas B. Romero, BusinessWorld