At the height of the Nov. 29 siege at the Peninsula Hotel in Makati City by rebel soldiers, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. assured some 160 foreign parliamentarians, including United Nations officials that the latest coup attempt would fizzle out.
“The Filipino people are tired of extra-constitutional attempts to overthrow the government,” he told The STAR, recalling the incident where he addressed delegates from Asia, United States, Europe, Latin America and Africa.
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said all Cabinet officials were ordered to meet with foreign diplomats, local and foreign businessmen to repair the damaged caused by the uprising led by Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV on the image of the Philippines.
Gonzales said it is hard to assess the damage caused by the Peninsula Hotel incident.
“But at least the world saw that the situation was dealt with decisively and quickly without any loss of lives. Politically, it was seen that the government remains strong and has the support of the people,” he said.
De Venecia tendered a luncheon for the international assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the Manila Hotel. He said he had the “delicate and difficult task” of assuring the guests that everything was under control.
“The relatives of the parliamentarians and staff were calling from Europe asking if they were safe because of what they were seeing in BBC and CNN television newscasts,” he said, noting the reports didn’t specify which hotel the rebels were in.
The Speaker said he calmed down the parliamentarians and declared that “it is a cause for concern, not a cause for alarm” because the “coup will not succeed.” He said he assured IPU secretary general Andrew Johnson that the Manila Hotel was a safe place.
Meantime, De Venecia lamented that he was put in a bad light by the report that he agreed with the position of detained Trillanes, who called for a change in the leadership of government by urging President Arroyo to step down.
“It puts me in ridicule. So many people have called my attention to it,” he told The STAR.
The STAR reported that De Venecia agreed with Trillanes’ call for reforms, especially “at the top,” which the Speaker didn’t deny. The report said that the opposition’s means or method to achieve reforms should never be condoned.
The STAR stands by its story, which was based on an official press statement of De Venecia.
“Without doubt we need reforms at the top. That is the reason we launched the moral revolution so the nation can retake the moral high ground and decisively move from the continuing crisis in our midst to a renewal of our values,” the Speaker said earlier.
“I agree when it comes to reforms, that is why we need a moral revolution. We need a campaign for reforms at the top, the center and the bottom to succeed,” he explained.
“We are grateful that the incident at the Manila Peninsula was resolved with no bloodshed and with no loss of lives. Dialogue and peace-making prevailed over the dire prospect of violence and firefight,” De Venecia said.
However, he also declared: “We must cleanse government and society and restore the nation from what our highly-respected Church leaders have described as a state of moral bankruptcy.” – With Paolo Romero