Albano joins race for speaker

An eight-way race for the House speakership began to shape up yesterday as comebacking Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano Jr. (Lakas-NUCD) announced his plan to run for the fourth top post in the land.

Albano made the announcement as a group of Mindanao lawmakers crossed party lines and supported the bid of House Deputy Majority Leader and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay (Lakas-NUCD) for the speakership.

This developed as the ruling Lakas-NUCD geared to finalize the alliance it said it would forge with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) this week.

But Albano said he was unfazed by the seven other candidates who expressed interest in the position and noted that even Lakas-NUCD party members are not so keen on the possible return of Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia to the speakership.

Albano, former House majority Leader during the Ramos administration, would be the third lawmaker from the far north to express interest in the post after Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla and Batanes Rep. Florencio Abad (Liberal Party).

Other congressmen interested in the post are Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzales, Palawan Rep. Vicente Sandoval and Tarlac Rep. Gilbert Teodoro.

"I believe I have the right combination of wisdom and reputable character which will attract both veteran and neophyte solons to my camp," Albano said.

Padilla, who openly declared he would contest the party’s nomination to the post, said De Venecia cannot be sure of his chances as he no longer controls the Lakas-NUCD membership.

At the same time, members of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) cast their lot with Pichay and expressed confidence that Pichay’s election to the post would address the problems in Mindanao.

"The Abu Sayyaf crisis is but a symptom of the endemic neglect of Mindanao, and we will have similar crises unless we have a holistic and lasting solution to this problem," said Agusan del Norte Rep. Leovigildo Banaag (LDP), who pushed for Pichay’s candidacy.

Banaag said Pichay’s varied background would help ensure that the national government would place due emphasis not only on Luzon but also on concerns in the Visayas and Mindanao.

"Butch Pichay is not only from Mindanao, he is also a Visayan and half-Ilocano and took his college at La Salle Taft and started his business here in Metro Manila," he said.

Banaag pointed out that Pichay continued to work quietly for the numbers needed to get the speakership.

However, De Venecia ally and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda dismissed the bids of the other candidates and simply said they do not have the numbers to have their man elected to the speakership.

Salceda said the negotiating panels of the Lakas-NUCD and NPC are set to meet next week to finalize the details of an alliance that would supposedly consist of 137 congressmen, more than the majority needed to capture the House’s top post.

The agreement to coalesce, Salceda revealed at the Balitaan sa Rembrandt forum, "is already in an advanced stage and its formulation is just a matter of time."

The members of the Lakas negotiating panel are Salceda, Rep. Rolando Andaya, Rep. Ace Barbers and Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri, the last three being known as the "Spice Boys" of the 11th Congress.

Salceda further said it was his impression that De Venecia, a two-time Speaker during the Ramos presidency when the country made a dramatic economic turnaround, already has the blessings of the NPC founding chairman and titular head Eduardo Cojuangco Jr.

If so, Teodoro is expected to withdraw his bid for the speakership since he is a nephew of Cojuangco.

Salceda said the country needs an economist President and an economist Speaker to hasten economic recovery and put the country back on the path to a sustainable economic growth.

Two weeks ago, De Venecia hammered out details of a decisive Anti-Poverty Action Plan that he already proposed to Malacañang as a possible executive-legislative program when 12th Congress opens its first regular session late next month.

De Venecia said the Anti-Poverty Action Plan calls for economic growth of seven percent for seven years starting in mid-2002.

If this is achieved, he said, millions of Filipino poor would cross over into the lower middle class and prepare the country for bigger economic growth in the next decade.

Salceda said the nascent Lakas-NPC coalition would be a decisive force to push the government’s anti-poverty program because it would have the numbers to push its legislative agenda.

He said Lakas has 87 seats in the forthcoming Congress, making it the majority party, while NPC has 50 for a total of 137 for the coalition plus 16 of the 18 party-list members also supporting the coalition.