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OUTGOING Speaker Jose de Venecia on Wednesday
proposed a House majority caucus to settle the issue of who should
be elected speaker in the Fourteenth Congress, which will open next
month in time for President Arroyo’s State of the Nation address
(SONA).
He said a coalition caucus is
necessary to settle major disputes or differences between coalition
partners.
The caucus de Venecia proposed
could be held in early July purposely to “informally select the
coalition choice for the speakership of the House of the
Representatives.”
“If Garcia has the numbers in
the caucus, I will withdraw my bid for the speakership and nominate
him as the coalition candidate,” de Venecia said.
“However, if I have the
numbers, Garcia should act as a statesman and nominate me for
Speaker,” de Venecia added.
He pointed out that Garcia, who
is supported by a small group of Kampi members, should have nothing
to fear because the caucus is the “moment of truth.”
The Fourteenth Congress will
convene on July 23 and the House will elect its speaker during its
inaugural session at 10 a.m. President Arroyo will address the first
joint session of Congress on that day to deliver her SONA.
De Venecia said that by settling
the issue of who should be speaker during the caucus, the bonafide
opposition bloc (GO and UNO) in the House would be able to nominate
its own candidate for speaker and this person becomes minority
leader if he loses the speakership election.
Some congressmen, namely Reps.
Tony Alvarez and Narciso Bravo, both of Kampi, Jack Duavit of the
NPC, and Reps. Eduardo Zialcita and Mat Defensor of Lakas-CMD
supported de Venecia’s proposal.
“If we can settle these
animosities early, then we can buckle down to work immediately which
is what the Filipino people want to see,” they said.
This developed as de Venecia’s
tough rival, Garcia, continued his word war against the Speaker as
he advised the latter to “stand in front of a mirror” and
“preach to himself about civility, deceit, double-dealing and
betrayal.”
Garcia admonished de Venecia to
practice what he preaches and not to betray his own allies, citing
the case of Rep. Prospero Nograles of Davao City whom. Garcia said
de Venecia replaced as House majority leader without Nograles’
knowledge. House Assistant Majority Leader Arthur Defensor was said
to have replaced Nograles during the last session days of the
Thirteenth Congress.
“Joe preaches about civility as
he attacks my family. He and his allies call for a ceasefire while
engaging in outright black propaganda against us. If that is not
hypocrisy, I don’t know what is,” Garcia said.
Garcia issued the statement in
reaction to what he described as the “hypocritical
holier-than-thou” pronouncements made by de Venecia against his
rivals for the speakership of the House of Representatives.
-- Maricel V. Cruz
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