DAR chief files complaint vs congressman for invectives

The pyrotechnics between a Luzon congressman and a Cabinet member may soon have a new venue: the House committee on ethics.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Hernani Braganza filed yesterday a complaint against Nueva Ecija Rep. Raul Villareal before the ethics committee for shouting invectives at him during the budget hearing Tuesday at the House of Representatives.

Braganza has apologized to President Arroyo and Speaker Jose de Venecia for losing his cool and cursing back at the lawmaker at the time of their verbal tussle.

"I never expected Representative Villareal to be that rude during our dialogue. I am so sorry that his actuations provoked me into retaliating also with unprintable words," explained Braganza, who was a congressman of Pangasinan for two terms.

The DAR chief accused Villareal of unethical conduct, grossly abusive behavior, and conduct unbecoming of a member of the House.

According to Braganza, the behavior of Villareal was "more fit for the streets than on the august halls of Congress."

"I believe that the welfare of the House of Representatives as an institution should be protected even or most especially at the expense of a member who has brought dishonor to it by disorderly behavior," he said. "Truly the actuations of Congressman Villareal should not be allowed to drag this institution into the level of disrepute he has gone down to."

Braganza claimed that Villareal began to be annoyed at him when he declined to give in to the request of the congressman to order a rebidding of a foreign-assisted infrastructure project in Nueva Ecija.

Villareal allegedly asked Braganza to order the rebidding of the P23-million project on behalf of an alleged contractor-friend who owns the RM Pingol Construction, which complained of a reported anomaly in the bidding process.

But the DAR chief rejected the request, explaining to Villareal that a rebidding could not be conducted unless a formal complaint was filed, with pertinent evidence attached, before the DAR.

Braganza said that until now, his office has yet to receive a formal complaint on the matter.

The Asian Development Bank-funded project involves the concreting of a five-kilometer farm-to-market road for an agrarian reform community in Nueva Ecija.

Braganza said that on Tuesday afternoon, De Venecia tried to set up a dialogue between him and Villareal inside the plenary hall to stop the legislator from using the issue to block the approval of DAR’s budget for 2003.

Braganza, however, said that the congressman flared up and cursed him for maintaining that he could not order a rebidding of the infrastructure project without the formal complaint.

A fist fight between the lawmaker and the Cabinet member almost ensued but was prevented when the proverbial cooler heads — in this case De Venecia and other congressmen — intervened.