After burying the impeachment complaint on Tuesday, De Venecia immediately moved to soothe ruffled feathers of pro-impeachment congressmen, mainly from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the second biggest political party in the country after Lakas.
"This (impeachment crisis) has only strengthened the House," De Venecia said.
"What is good for the House is good for the Sunshine Coalition. We believe the overwhelming majority of NPC members would like to maintain the coalition.
"This has been a long-standing coalition, from 1992 to 1995. Briefly, 1995 to 1998, and from 2001 up to now. We have gone through many crises together," De Venecia said.
However, Camarines Sur Rep. Felix William Fuentebella, one of the principal complainants against Davide, said the NPC’s stay in the coalition has yet to be decided by the party.
On the other hand, NPC spokesman and Sorsogon Rep. Francis Escudero said there are "no indications" that the "Sunshine Coalition" would break up.
"I don’t think we should go our separate ways over this issue," he said.
Manila Rep. Harry Angping, also of the NPC, said they will hold a series of meetings this week to discuss "issues affecting the party" in the aftermath of the impeachment standoff.
"There will be an assessment, many were disappointed, but we accepted the decision, and there is no rancor on our part," he said.
Tarlac Rep. Jesli Lapus said the NPC is still "regrouping" following the setback in the party-led move to impeach Davide.
But the pro-administration Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) wants to retain its political alliance with the NPC in the House of Representatives.
"As a party, we would like to continue the Sunshine Coalition and the alliance with the NPC, especially in the House of Representatives because there are still important legislative measures we have to pursue," said Heherson Alvarez, Lakas spokesman.
"As far as the House leadership is concerned, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. intends to see to it that the coalition would remain intact. It is in the interest of the nation as this will make the House more productive in pursuing its unfinished legislative agenda," he said.
However, Alvarez said Lakas has yet to make a stand in the event that NPC decides to join the opposition six months before next May’s national and local elections.
"We would prefer that the question of whether NPC would eventually leave the coalition be tackled in February when the 12th Congress is over," he said.
"If it can be avoided, we prefer that there will be no talks of political realignment now so that the administration can attend fully to its legislative agenda in Congress," Alvarez said.
De Venecia said the "Sunshine Coalition" remains strong and should stay intact in view of common reforms and programs they have been espousing.
In an interview on the television program "Strictly Politics" on ANC cable television Tuesday night, De Venecia said the NPC’s "young statesmen" who spearheaded the impeachment complaint against Davide want to keep the coalition.
"I believe we just have to continue the existing Sunshine Coalition," he said "It’s doing quite well. We have had healthy differences of opinion over this impeachment thing, but other than that we are supporting the common legislation, common economic and social reform programs."
De Venecia said he will continue to appeal to "hardliners" in the House who refuse to give up on the impeachment complaint against Davide.
"The young turks of the NPC are very capable and very cooperative," he said.
"Many of them (young NPC leaders) are statesmen, many of them are espousing cooperation between the Lakas and the NPC which has helped govern this country quite well for the last two and a half years.
"They think in terms of what’s good for the country, and they want to keep the coalition and we want to keep the coalition with them," he said.
The NPC "young turks" are Reps. Gilbert Teodoro, Francis Escudero, Juan Pablo Bondoc and Joseph Durano, he added.
During the same program, Maguindanao Rep. Didagen Dilangalen said he and allied congressmen are "mapping out a parliamentary strategy" to have the impeachment complaint transmitted to the Senate.
"We are finding means to transmit the impeachment complaint," he said. "We are trying to find the best opportunity and the best way (to have it transmitted) because we do not recognize the validity of the decision of the Supreme Court because it is an encroachment on the powers of the House in deciding impeachment cases."
Dilangalen said the House’s action junking the impeachment complaint against Davide was "merely an expression of dissent," and therefore it is not binding.
"There was no motion filed when Speaker De Venecia made that opinion," he said.
"A ruling could be made only when there is a motion and there was no motion at all. That’s why at the moment that could be treated as an expression of dissent by the House," he said.
Dilangalen said over one-third of the House signed the complaint, and that it must be transmitted to the Senate for trial as mandated by the Constitution.
"We will try to make the Supreme Court feel that the judicial dictatorship is not welcomed," he said. "We are going to defy the decision."
The "Sunshine Coalition" is comprised of the NPC, Lakas, Liberal Party, Nacionalista Party, PDP-Laban, Reporma, Aksyon Demokratiko, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, and the Probinsya Muna Development Initiatives. — With reports from Sammy Santos, Ann Corvera