140 solons now backing JDV’s speakership bid

The number of congressmen supporting the speakership bid of former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has grown to 140 from 126 last week, Rep. Joey Salceda (Lakas, Albay) said yesterday.

Salceda, De Venecia’s principal campaigner, said nominees of party-list groups that won in the May 14 elections comprise the latest group that expressed support for the once and future speaker.

"The show of support of even the party-list representatives indicates that De Venecia’s leadership is acceptable to a majority of solons belonging to various political and sectoral groups represented in the House," he said.

He said among the declared candidates for the fourth highest post in the land, only De Venecia "has the track record of delivering on the legislative agenda of the administration."

Salceda, an economist and a former hotshot stock and financial market analyst, recalled that during the Ramos years, then Speaker De Venecia led the House in putting in place the necessary reforms that propelled the economy to achieve unprecedented growth.

He stressed that this time, his candidate for Speaker is committed to the delivery of the Arroyo administration’s legislative agenda.

In fact, De Venecia has drafted an economic program that he would soon submit to President Arroyo and other political leaders for their consideration, he added.

Besides De Venecia, the other declared candidates for Speaker include Deputy Speaker for Luzon Carlos Padilla, Deputy Speaker for Visayas Raul Gonzales, and Representatives Florencio Abad of Batanes and Vicente Sandoval of Palawan.

There are reports that the pro-administration Liberal Party, which Abad heads as president, and the opposition Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino have coalesced and agreed to field a common candidate for Speaker.

Salceda said congressmen forging coalitions are just regrouping and consolidating "after being decimated by the raids on their party ranks by the JDV forces."

However, he said the De Venecia camp continues to reach out to these groups to forge a larger unity coalition that would back the administration’s legislative agenda.

One of these groups is the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), whose titular head is businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. and which is the second biggest bloc in the House after the administration Lakas-NUCD-Kampi.

NPC congressmen do not want to assume an opposition role, preferring to keep their policy of critical collaboration with the Arroyo administration.

Salceda said a working partnership among Lakas, NPC and the smaller groups "offers the prime formula for a stable dominant coalition in Congress."

By Salceda’s count, his candidate for Speaker needs only 113 votes to win.