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One analysis on the ouster of five-termer Jose de
Venecia as speaker and his replacement by Davao Congressman Prospero
Nograles is that they were nothing more than a manifestation of a
struggle between two entrenched political elite families over
economic and political spoils.
Five hours before his removal, De
Venecia delivered a rare privilege speech on Feb. 4, denouncing
President Arroyo for not returning favors done her by her former
political ally. “I made her my running mate in 1998,” de Venecia
recalled. After she won as vice president, “I asked Joseph Estrada
to make her his secretary of social welfare.”
De Venecia recalled he stood by
Arroyo during her many trials as president. “In the various coup
attempts against her presidency I was there with many of you to
ensure that she continues and stays in the seat of power in Malacañang,”
the outgoing speaker told the House.
He accused the Palace of pushing
the approval of the aborted ZTE Corp. Chinese broadband deal
“which would cost you and me and the entire Filipino people an
external indebtedness of $330 million.”
De Venecia said the contract was
overpriced by $200 million. He also revealed attempts to assassinate
him and his son, Joey, who exposed the ZTE overpricing anomaly. The
speaker wrote a letter to President Arroyo who apparently did
nothing. “It’s simple arrogance, just plain arrogance that
Malacañang and the people of the Palace are above the law. Someday,
this can happen to you,” he said.
Arroyo’s sons, Mikey and Dato,
who are congressmen, and their dad, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, are
behind his ouster, de Venecia said.
He said he knew of “many
attempts to tamper the elections in the year 2004,” to the
thunderous applause of the gallery.
“We have to beg the President
of the Philippines for our own share of public works in order that
we could build our irrigation systems, some clinics and airports,
and mass housing and little hospitals and medicines for our
people,” the grizzled veteran politico said.
Finally, de Venecia revealed that
the bidding for the electricity transmission monopoly TransCo was
manipulated and went to a “company that is closely affiliated to
the Arroyos” although there was rival bid for $6 billion. TransCo
was sold for $3.9 billion.
This is the tragedy of our times.
The economy is part of the wheeling and dealing of politics. The
rich get richer and the poor poorer, making the country less
egalitarian today than it was a century ago.
In the Family Income and
Expenditure Survey (FIES), poor income classes suffered the most in
income reduction between 2003 and 2006. The tenth decile income
class or poorest suffered a decline of 4.78 percent, the sharpest
among the income classes. Also shouldering massive income drops were
the middle class, between 3.62 percent and 4.69 percent.
And the richest income classes,
the top two deciles? The reduction was the smallest, by 1.71 percent
and 1.79 percent. In a sharply growing economy, the rich benefits
the most and the fastest while it takes time for the poor to reap
the harvest, if ever. How come in a rising economy, nearly everyone
is suffering an income decline? There must be something wrong with
the statistics.
Meanwhile, JdV is anything but a
spent force. “He is a giant in the jungle, a wounded tiger,”
says Parañaque Congressman J. Roilo Golez.
Joe can choose to cast his lot
with the opposition where he could be among its leaders but without
the total trust invested in a true opposition leader. Former
President Joseph Estrada was among the first to congratulate Joe
after his speech. He urged him to “carry on.” Or Joe could stay
the course he has currently taken and become the conscience of the
House of Representatives and the nation.
He is the most visionary and
articulate speaker ever of the House, his mind overwhelming with
ideas distilled from many years of experience as a newsman,
diplomat, businessman, wheeler-dealer, party- and consensus-builder
and political leader.
The presidency of Fidel V. Ramos
would not have been the success that it was were it not for the
legislative support given him by Joe as speaker. During their watch,
Congress passed about 100 reform laws that helped open up the
economy, trigger the flow of foreign investments, and nurture the
country back to economic and political stability. Sadly, many of
those laws have not been implemented or taken root.
As for Speaker Nogie Nograles,
well, we were batchmates in the TOYM awards of 1985. He won for
human rights advocacy and I for journalism. Later, Nogie became a
traditional politician. But he has in his genes and training to be a
good politician. I wish him luck.
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