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By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
Malacańang has denied the allegations made by
Gina de Venecia, the wife of former House Speaker Jose de Venecia
3rd, about the existence of a “midnight Cabinet” at the Palace
allegedly being presided by Jose Miguel Arroyo, the husband of the
President. The group is said to be “involved in affairs of
state.”
“The revelations of the former Speaker’s
wife are best ignored considering its bitter source,” Press
Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.
Mrs. de Venecia said in radio interviews that
Mr. Arroyo is “very much” in control of Malacańang and presides
over a “midnight Cabinet,” contrary to the image he wants to
portray, which is to stay away from political affairs and the
limelight.
Mrs. de Venecia claimed that the midnight
Cabinet is composed of businessmen-cronies and alter-egos of
President Gloria Arroyo, which include Interior and Local Government
Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza,
Chairman Ephraim Genuino of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming
Corp. and Director Tomas Alcantara of the Manila Economic and
Cultural Office.
She also included a businessman as part of the
midnight Cabinet.
But Bunye said he believes that the statements
of Mrs. de Venecia is an apparent attempt “to project the
President as beholden to a few.”
“The President owes her mandate to the people
who voted her in office and not to ‘midnight kibitzers’ who
think they know more about the inner workings of government than
they actually do,” he added.
Bunye urged the people to buckle down to work,
and mentioned the destruction caused by floods and landslides in
Eastern Samar and Leyte deserves collective attention.
”Politics must not prevail over the urgent
social needs of our people.”
Mrs. De Venecia further claimed that the
midnight cabinet have been helping the President since the “Hello,
Garci” scandal broke out.
“These people held the President by the neck
because she was greatly indebted to them, who helped her in the
‘Hello, Garci’ scandal,” she said. “But she could not
control them anymore.”
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