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By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter
IF former Speaker Jose de Venecia had the
“Pangasinan Express”—which included a lot of northern Luzon
congressmen—Speaker Prospero Nograles has the “Mindanao Bloc.”
He has cultivated the loyalty of these
congressmen and congresswomen, a 60-person strong bloc committed to
be personally loyal to “Nogie.” They gave him overwhelming
support in his drive for the speakership and they are pledged to
help him succeed.
This bloc of House members from Mindanao, Rep.
Antonio Cerilles of Zamboanga del Sur told The Manila Times, has
been in existence even in the early years of the Republic.
MINSUPALA Bloc
It was then known as the “MINSUPALA Bloc.”
It encompassed all the congressional districts in Mindanao, Sulu and
Palawan.
In today’s regional subdivisioning, Palawan is
part of the MIMAROPA region (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and
Palawan). But Palawan congressmen still retain their affinity to the
MINSUPALA concept.
Cerilles said the Mindanao bloc has played a
great role in helping the House under Nograles’ new leadership to
carry out reforms intended to rebuild the image of the institution.
Our bloc of 60 persons “may have the best
relationship with Speaker Nograles,” Cerilles said.
“We are one in supporting the leadership of
Speaker Nograles achieve reforms in the House,” Cerilles told The
Manila Times, citing the improved quorum, the higher attendance in
both committee and plenary sessions, the fast-track approval of
several priority measures, and the “more cooperative and
harmonious” House of Representatives.
During the tumultuous ouster of Rep. Speaker
Jose de Venecia in February, the Mindanao bloc was the first to
provide the warm bodies around Speaker Nograles.
Its members were the ones who first encouraged
Nograles to challenge the former speaker even at a time when
“nobody would believe that we could raise the number to make him
win.”
Mindanao legislators at the time of the Kampi-organized
moves to unseat de Venecia agreed among themselves that no other
personality in the House of Representatives could have a better
chance of replacing de Venecia except Nograles.
As one of de Venecia’s deputy speakers,
Nograles had built friendship and camaraderie among his peers in
Congress regardless of party affiliation and political persuasion.
They always found Nograles very accommodating
when he was the Majority Leader and when the time came for them to
show their loyalty to him and work to install him as speaker, they
moved as one.
Having installed Nograles, a fellow Mindanaoan,
as House speaker, Cerilles said, he and his colleagues in the
“Mindanao Bloc” feel that at last the Arroyo administration’s
programs and projects for the development of Mindanao are now really
going to be given top-priority status, funding and proper attention.
Muslims and oppositionists
Muslim leaders in the House, as well as a number
of opposition members and party-list groups, have been loyal
supporters of Nograles even before he became the Speaker.
They include Rep. Munir Arbison of Sulu,
Opposition Reps. Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, Luz Ilagan of
the Gabriela Women’s Party, Florencio “Bem” Noel of An Waray
and Mujiv Hataman of Anak Mindanao.
“I’m with the opposition but I was among
those who actively campaigned for Boy Nogie [Nograles] because I
believe that he is a good and level-headed leader. He treats
everyone as his equal and not as someone perched on a pedestal,”
Rodriguez had earlier said.
“It’s time that someone from Mindanao is
elevated to the top level of national government,” Hataman noted
before Nograles’ rise to the speakership.
Other power blocs
Nograles was elected speaker by an overwhelming
vote of at least 185 congressmen who crossed party lines.
Nograles indeed has got the charisma to attract
the support of fellow politicians and voters. But most of all, his
colleagues regard him highly for being always helpful and accessible
to them.
Even the representatives then identified as Rep.
Jose de Venecia’s lieutenants supported his speakership bid. These
were House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor of Iloilo, Reps. Eric
Singson of Ilocos Sur (deputy speaker for Luzon and head of the
Northern Alliance Bloc); Raul del Mar (deputy speaker for Visayas);
and Simeon Datumanong of Maguindanao (deputy speaker for
Mindanao)—all members of the ruling Lakas-CMD.
Deputy Majority Leaders who were appointed
during the time of de Venecia also supported Nograles’ bid. These
were Rep. Neptali “Boyet” Gonzales 2nd of Mandaluyong (Lakas-CMD),
Joseph Emilio Abaya of Cavite (LP), Jesus Crispin Remulla of Cavite
(Lakas-CMD) and Abraham Kahlil Mitra of Palawan (NPC).
The 28-person-strong Northern Luzon Alliance
also overwhelmingly supported Nograles. “That was a party
decision,” Singson said.
The Speaker also got full backing from the
members of the Visayas bloc. One of them is Rep. Eleandro Jesus
Madrona of Romblon (Lakas-CMD). “I know the Speaker very well. He
can decide on his own and whatever is his decision he’ll make sure
that everybody is happy.”
The ‘Reform’ bloc
Members of the so-called reform bloc in the
House are the ones who actively sought the ouster of then-Speaker de
Venecia.
In the frontline of the reform bloc—which has
some 40 members—Reps. Luis Villafuerte of Camarines Sur (Kampi
president) and Jose Solis of Sorsogon. Both were de Venecia’s
political nemesis.
A prominent member of the bloc, who was the
first name mentioned as someone challenging de Venecia from among
the prominently pro-GMA congressmen, is Rep. Pablo Garcia (KAMPI) of
Cebu. He is the father of Gov. Gwen Garcia and GSIS chairman and CEO
Winston Garcia, both known loyal supporters of Mrs. Arroyo.
Rep. Pablo Garcia was, in late April, appointed
deputy speaker to monitor several House committees when the
committees are clustered into related departments just as the
Cabinet departments are grouped into clusters.
Garcia’s appointment, despite being done after
consultations with several House members, irked some congressmen.
They viewed his appointment as just a political “accommodation.”
But many would agree that Garcia’s task would
be an important instrument for the House in carrying out reforms.
Given his wide-ranging experience as a veteran legislator, a
constitutionalist, and a local government official in Cebu, Garcia
is seen as an important instrument in creating a new “House of the
People.”
The Arroyo ‘bloc’
Few, perhaps out of fear, dare mention the
Arroyo clan as a bloc in the House of Representatives.
The fact is that there are two congressmen who
are children of the President and one who is her brother-in-law.
The rumors say that the original move to pull
the rug from under de Venecia’s feet was by this “bloc.”
Definitely, there would not have been a massive
desertion from de Venecia had this “bloc” not been in favor of
the move to oust him.
And, most expert observers of Philippine
politics agree, Speaker Nograles would not be the top man of the
House today without their support and without President Arroyo’s
blessings.
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