Will Joe De Venecia’s 747 program take off?
July 18, 2001 | 12:00am
Can a former business tycoon, criticized by rivals as the quintessential traditional politician, become a champion of Philippine economic reform? Can the losing candidate of the 1998 presidential election maneuver a stunning political comeback by winning the Speakership of Congress for a historic third term on July 23? Jose "Joe" C. de Venecia Jr. is one of the country’s most colorful personalities. His life has straddled both big business and politics. He has savored many big victories and has also swallowed his share of bitter losses in business and politics. In a recent five-hour dinner interview at his Makati residence, De Venecia exuded optimism as he explained to The Philippine STAR his "747" economic program. "I hope to propose to President Gloria Arroyo a 747 economic program, with the goal of pushing seven percent of economic growth for seven years. We must lift the poor masses into the middle class, similar to the dramatic economic reforms of China’s Premier Zhu Rongji."
A precocious journalist and diplomat in his youth, Joe de Venecia became the first Philippine prime contractor in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-1970s, hiring 51,000 Filipino overseas contract workers to engage in port operations in Saudi Arabia, agriculture in Africa, mass housing and oil exploration in the United Arab Emirates. He also pioneered 1970s Philippine oil and gas exploration programs that resulted in the first oil and gas strikes in offshore Palawan, serving as president of the Petroleum Association of the Philippines for many years.
A former playboy whose girlfriends included the world’s first Miss Universe winner Armi Kuusela, Joe de Venecia is now happily married to Georgina "Gina" Vera-Perez de Venecia whose family once made Sampaguita Pictures the country’s biggest film production company.
In a dinner at his Makati residence just before the May 14 election, there were no other guests in his home – a stark contrast to his heyday as House Speaker from 1992 to 1998 when his wife told this writer that she had to feed numerous visitors five times a day, like they were running a restaurant. Nowadays, the once quiet De Venecia home has again come alive with the influx of many visitors. De Venecia won back his old congressional seat in the fourth district of Pangasinan with a record 93 percent of the votes. Known for political cunning and his exceptional talent for consensus-building, De Venecia was prime mover behind many landmark economic reform laws such as the the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Law which had encouraged foreign investment inflows, the Bases Conversion Law, the law creating the new Bangko Sentral, the Low-Cost Housing Law, the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Law, the New Social Security Law and many others. Former Speaker Feliciano "Sonny" Belmonte Jr. told this writer that people should never underestimate De Venecia and his ability to bounce back.
Philippine STAR: Your rivals say you should not be Speaker and that you’re a trapo or traditional politician. How do you respond to this?
Jose De Venecia Jr: It is unfair that there is a bad connotation given to traditional politicians. Some of history’s most effective leaders were traditional politicians who helped their countries, people like Winston Churchill who was also head of parliament. In our history, leaders like Manuel Quezon, Sergio Osmeña Sr. and Manuel Roxas were traditional politicians who had served the nation well with their traditional political skills. Ang sagot ng taga-Pangasinan to attacks against me is that "Ang trapo ay tagalinis ng mga dumi" (laughs). There are 210 regular congressmen and 20 sectoral representatives; a Speaker needs to build consensus and unite diverse interests in order to make Congress effective and efficient.
Billionaire Larry Ellison of Oracle also admires Churchill, so does Secretary Gordon. Why Churchill?
Churchill was a terrific member of parliament, a brilliant legislator. He also became head of the parliament. As prime minister, he mobilized the Parliament and the British nation to fight the Germans.
Even your rivals have described you as a political magician, how will your negotiating skills be helpful to the Macapagal-Arroyo administration?
I pledge to support President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Congress. It is clear that the administration’s influence over the Senate is unstable, so our role in the House of Representatives is very important. I am a consensus-builder. After President Ramos, I invited his election rivals such as Imelda Marcos, Danding Cojuangco, Monching Mitra and Doy Laurel to meet and reconcile with him here in this house. As a peace envoy of Ramos, I helped forge the peace agreement with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and persuaded its chairman Nur Misuari to accept coalition with Lakas-NUCD. I was also the first Christian leader to enter Mindanao’s Camp Abubakar mountains in November 1997 to negotiate personally with Hashim Salamat, chairman of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). We were close to achieving peace but were overtaken by the 1998 election. As Speaker, I created the "Rainbow Coalition" of six political parties and groups of independents. Even though President Fidel Ramos won only 24 percent of the votes in the election, he was able to govern effectively with the support of our Rainbow Coalition in Congress. We were able to pass 70 economic reform laws, which helped create a modest economic miracle in the Philippines. We were achieving economic growth rates of five to six percent per year. We were pushing to hit seven to eight percent economic growth rates, but the Asian financial crisis intervened.
After you lost the 1998 presidential election, there were stories that your allies had betrayed you in favor of Joseph Estrada. What has your loss taught you about politics?
Politics is cruel. Politics is ungrateful, but politics can also be a strong and positive force for turning the country around and for moving the country forward.
Joseph Estrada defeated you in the 1998 election. What do you think of his fate now?
Well, I really feel sorry for him. Erap is essentially a good fellow. We lost three years under his presidency, we declined economically. His friends had abused him.
You were a businessman, now you are a politician. How do you compare business with politics?
Politics and business, it’s all the same to me, it’s a question of performance. Whatever you do, put in a good management team and adequate resources. Whether it’s business or politics, it’s a question of will and basic common sense, and the courage to be courageous and innovative. Most important of all, everything that you do, you must do in humility so you get the support of everyone. If you are arrogant, everyone will be turned off.
Didn’t you become bitter at losing and at being betrayed by others? How did you cope when you lost in 1998?
You feel terrible when you lose. I thank the Lord I became closer to my family and to God. May maraming pluses yung experience, kahit maraming minuses, and the loss improved my golf (laughs).
President Gloria Arroyo seems to love golf. Who’s better at this game, you or the President?
Maybe I’m slightly better than her in golf (laughs), although her husband Mike Arroyo is slightly better than me.
How would you assess the President? She is intellectually qualified, how about her leadership?
You know, I enjoy working with the President even when she was still a senator. My principal partner in all the socio-economic reform bills was Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. We were then already a terrific team, working to champion economic development. That’s why I chose her as my running mate on December 25, 1997, midnight, here in this same house and at this very table where we are now eating. It was also my birthday. It was the best choice of my life. Look at her now, she is a great leader, very hardworking and brilliant.
How do you remember the late President Diosdado Macapagal?
I was one of the four spokesmen of President Macapagal in 1961. The three others were Hechanova who became finance secretary, Vic Martinez who became chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes and Leo Parungao who later became press secretary. I was the only one who did not seek a government position because I was then a young businessman. Macapagal was one of our greatest presidents. Like his daughter, he was very hardworking, a visionary, a leader with strong work ethic and a president with intelligence and integrity.
In an earlier interview, President Gloria Arroyo told me she plans to run for president in 2004.
I’m going to support her in 2004. If you have a good President like Gloria for three years now and another six years, we can have stability and continuity, then we can economically overtake Malaysia and Thailand. If we don’t get our act together as a country, even Vietnam will soon economically overtake us.
Why do you think the Philippine economy has declined?
The long Philippine economic decline started during the martial law era, then President Cory Aquino succeeded in propelling the economy upwards but her enemies did not give her a chance; the seven military coup attempts paralyzed our economy. At least, she restored democracy.
As a former presidential candidate, have you visited all cities and towns in the archipelago?
Unfortunately, I had covered only 80 percent of the provinces in my campaign. While Estrada and the other candidates were already busy campaigning, I was chosen only as the Lakas-NUCD candidate in December 1997, because I had to go through two conventions where I won overwhelmingly, but the others did not honor my victory and proceeded with their own candidacy. I was only proclaimed before Christmas. Although the election was in May, in January and February I still had to preside in Congress to pass the crucial oil deregulation law and the completion of the tax reform package. You know why I had to do that when election was already in May? The Asian financial crisis started in July 1997, I was worried that if we did not pass these two economic bills, the negative effects of the Asian crisis would destroy our economy and affect the International Monetary Fund (IMF) rescue package. If these two laws were not passed, the IMF would not rescue us from a possible second Asian crisis in January and February of 1998. I had to work in Congress to pass these two laws at the expense of my political future. These are some of the things that people do not understand, even many people in government do not understand.
What was your original ambition as a youth?
I wanted to become a diplomat, a foreign minister.
You had many girlfriends in your younger years. How many years were you the boyfriend of Armi Kuusela, the world’s first Miss Universe winner?
(Laughs) Three years.
How would you describe your wife Gina deVenecia?
She is my adviser, my best friend, lover and devoted mother to my children. I never travel without her by my side so I won’t get into trouble (laughs).
Your life as a business tycoon and political kingpin has seen many highs and lows – it could be good material for a movie.
That movie can turn out to be a money-maker if you will help me promote it (laughs), just please reduce those parts about the love life (laughs).
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