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PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija: While his father, former
House Speaker Jose de Venecia is set to appear before the Senate as
a witness on the botched NBN-ZTE broadband deal between the
Philippines and China, businessman Joey de Venecia will likely find
himself tracing his father’s political steps at the House should
he decide to run in 2010.
The younger de Venecia said that
while he cannot afford expensive caravans to provinces, he accepts
invitations for him to promote his advocacies, like appearing before
the Rotary Club of Cabanatuan on the occasion of its 60th founding
anniversary on Thursday in a forum held at the Nueva Ecija
Convention Center. While refusing to elaborate, he noted that should
any political channel open in the process, running for an elective
position in 2010 would be an option.
He, however, expressed his belief
that a person can push change even outside the government office.
“It’s too early talk about
2010,” de Venecia stressed when pressed further about his
political plans.
He expressed satisfaction over
the handling of the case by the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee chaired
by Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano and the Office of the Ombudsman are
conducting the investigation.
The businessman, who lost his bid
for the broadband project in favor of ZTE, said he finds the justice
system working.
At the same time, de Venecia said
he has no plans to file a motion for reconsideration with the
Supreme Court that earlier dismissed the petitions filed by his
Amsterdam Holdings Inc., questioning the legality of the contract.
“I have not read the SC decision but I have no intention of filing
a motion for reconsideration,” he said.
On his father’s awaited
testimonies, De Venecia said that while the former speaker has his
own self, he is confident that he will appear before the Blue Ribbon
upon his return, possibly after President Arroyo delivered her state
of the Nation address (SONA) on June 28.
“He said he’s accepting
the senate’s invitation,” he said, “meaning it could be
sometime after GMA’s Sona.”
Cayetano earlier said he is
giving the former Speaker until next month to appear in the
Senate’s probe into the alleged anomalous NBN deal with China’s
ZTE Corp. If the former Speaker fails to appear, the senator will
set a final hearing after which he will submit a final report.
While the elder de Venecia
earlier said he would speak about the matter at the appropriate
time, his son and namesake, Joey de Venecia 3rd, would rather for
him to file a case before the Office of the Ombudsman against those
involved instead of appearing before the Senate.
“I would advise my father
to just go to the Ombudsman but he is his own man,” he said,
unfazed by reports that the Ombudsman has been faring miserably with
the graft cases filed before it.
--Armand M. Galang
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