House coalition leaders meet today to tackle reorganization

A major reorganization of House committees as an offshoot of the failed move to impeach President Arroyo three weeks ago is in the works.

Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. told The STAR last night that he would meet today with leaders of his chamber, the ruling Lakas party and smaller political groups that make up the majority coalition to discuss the impending revamp.

De Venecia has just returned from what he described as a "very successful" trip to the United States during which he met with officials of the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, United Nations, and the US government to push for the Philippine proposal for a global debt—for—equity conversion scheme.

He said a strong clamor from coalition members to replace committee chairmen who voted with members of the minority in the failed impeachment initiative is prompting the House reorganization plans.

"I am personally for reconciling with our few members who joined the impeachment move and voted with the minority, but I cannot ignore this clamor from a greater number of our supporters," De Venecia said.

He said most members of the majority coalition feel that committee chairmen who joined the impeachment move should either resign or be replaced, since had the initiative to oust Mrs. Arroyo succeeded, it is the leaders of the chambers, from the Speaker down to committee chairmen, who would have given up their posts.

He added that his consultation today with coalition leaders would be followed with a larger meeting with coalition members to be held later this week or early next week.

The coalition is led by Lakas, of which De Venecia is president. Its members include the Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino (Kampi), Nationalist People’s Coalition, Liberal Party (LP) and Nacionalista Party (NP).

It is largely the combined forces of Lakas and Kampi that killed the impeachment move against the President. Kampi is the political party Mrs. Arroyo organized in 1997 when she was a senator. It is now headed by Antipolo City Rep. Ronaldo Puno.

The LP and NP are led by Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Manuel Villar, respectively.

Last July 8, the LP joined the calls of former President Corazon Aquino, the Makati Business Club, the so—called "Hyatt 10" group of resigned Cabinet members, and other groups for the resignation of Mrs. Arroyo.

Members of the majority and minority who are expected to be affected by the impending revamp include Deputy Speaker Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, who heads the LP bloc in the House, and Representatives Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte, who chairs the accounts committee, and Edmundo Reyes of Marinduque, who heads the education committee.

Aquino is one of more than 10 LP members who followed the stand taken by their party on the President’s resignation or impeachment. The others remained Arroyo loyalists. Aquino had said he was ready to give up his post.

As for Barbers and Reyes, though they are members of the majority, they joined the impeachment move. Barbers had long wanted to resign as accounts committee chairman.

Several members of the NP, including Villar’s wife Cynthia, who represents the lone district of Las Piñas, supported the oust—Arroyo initiative.

A number of majority members did not sign nor endorsed the opposition’s amended complaint against the President but voted with impeachment complainants and endorsers. One of them is Makati’s Teodoro Locsin Jr., who chairs the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.

A parallel reorganization in the minority is in the offing since several opposition members were conspicuously and inexplicably absent when it mattered most — during the vote on the impeachment complaints.

They included Imee Marcos of Ilocos Norte, Luis Asistio and Oscar Malapitan of Caloocan City and Vincent Crisologo of Quezon City. Marcos is the lone representative of the minority in the powerful Commission on Appointments.