After lambasting Malacañang: JDV: Declare all seats vacant
At the end of an emotion-filled speech against Malacañang that lasted for about an hour, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. called to declare all positions in the House of Representatives vacant.
“I would like to move that we amend the motion of the distinguished gentleman from
Mitra’s earlier motion called for the vacancy of the speaker’s seat. The motion can lead to a vote to determine if de Venecia will retain his post.
De Venecia’s motion, however, objected by Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte.
“The motion was only to declare the office of the speaker and no other,” said Villafuerte.
The session was suspended after Villafuerte’s objection.
Before calling for the vacancy of seats, de Venecia accused Malacañang of plotting to oust him from the House speakership.
De Venecia made the allegation as he poured out emotions on the plenary amid reports that President Arroyo’s partymates in the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), including her two sons, are working overtime to unseat him.
De Venecia also cited several “favors” that were granted to Mrs. Arroyo during his term as speaker.
Malacañang has yet to issue a statement denying de Venecia’s accusation.
Smells like ZTE
During his speech, de Venecia accused Malacañang of pushing for the approval of the broadband network deal with
“They insisted this so called ZTE project from
He also said that since he allowed his son, Jose de Venecia III, to testify before the Senate regarding the botched deal, a lawyer reportedly hired by the “minions” of Malacañang filed an ethics complaint against him.
“That very day after filing an ethics case against me at the committee on ethics where some members of the house in collusion with Malacañang were saying ‘go ahead, proceed with the ethics case against speaker de Venecia,’” he said.
De Venecia added that the same lawyer filed a three-page impeachment case against Mrs. Arroyo.
“You know the impeachment case against the President, it was three pages. [A] slight rehash of the ethics case that was filed against me. In this three-page complaint…Two pages was an attack on my person, one page against the President,” he said.
There were 212 congressmen and congresswomen present when de Venecia gave out his blistering speech. Also present were de Venecia’s wife, Gina, and his son Jose III.
The speech was delivered hours after Mitra, An ally of Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, moved the speaker’s position be declared vacant.
Mitra is one of at least 150 congressmen who signed the manifesto declaring a loss of confidence on de Venecia.
The manifesto is being circulated by KAMPI, the President’s political party.
‘Money offered’
De Venecia earlier revealed rumors that congressmen are being offered P500,000 to P1 million each to back a move to remove him as speaker.
“[
De Venecia warned Mrs. Arroyo’s sons against using “government resources” to avoid “another explosion of a financial scandal” in the House.
The speaker said the two presidential sons are backing the ouster move after his son Joey linked the First Family to irregularities in the scrapped $329-million national broadband network (NBN) deal.
The younger de Venecia earlier said First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo acted as “godfather” in the deal after allegedly being promised $70 million if the deal pushed through.
“We should be fully transparent and that we should avoid what bishop Benny Abante is warning against [that] we have another explosion of a financial scandal. I am hopeful that Boy Nograles and the President’s children will stay by the rules,” de Venecia said.
Caucus at the Palace
At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said yesterday’s caucus gave De Venecia more time to consult his supporters regarding his next move.
“It was agreed that, one, there will be no showdown this afternoon (yesterday) but the actual voting will be done (today) to give time to the protagonists to have further consultations with their respective supporters as to the mode that will be employed in the selection of the speaker,” Bunye said.
“The atmosphere was like a mini-House of Representatives because the President was there, they recognized that they could not speak out of turn, they had to wait to be recognized, but everyone was quite open about his or her views and some were very forceful about their arguments,” he said.
The meeting, presided by President Arroyo, began at around 10:30 a.m. and ended at around 1:30 p.m. Leaders and members of the ruling coalition – Lakas-CMD, Kampi, Liberal Party (LP), Nationalist People’s Coalition, (NPC) Nacionalista Party (NP), Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas, and the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino – attended the meeting held at the Malacañang golf club house.
Among those present were Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, representing KAMPI, Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson, Albay Rep. Edcel
Lagman, Parañaque Rep. Ed Zialcita, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales,
Mrs. Arroyo explained the purpose of the meeting in her opening statement and let Ermita moderate the meeting.
She was seated at the head of a rectangular table with De Venecia and
The meeting began with Mrs. Arroyo, De Venecia, Nograles and and
In that meeting, Nograles showed
De Venecia the supposed manifesto signed by lawmakers disgruntled with the current House leadership.
It was not clear how de Venecia and the others in the room reacted to the manifesto. Bunye did not say how many signatures were in the manifesto.
Bunye said that by insisting on a vote, De Venecia wanted to show that he was not shying away from a fight.
He said most of those in the room wanted to have a decision as soon as possible.
“But the President said I think it is fair to give the Speaker ample time to do the consultations,” Bunye said. He said it was only the manner of voting that was the point of contention. (/NLQ)
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