Let’s hope Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla was simply nursing a hangover. Discussing continuing efforts by the administration to kick out Jose de Venecia Jr. as Speaker, Padilla was quoted as saying that the highest official of the House of Representatives, in truth, served at the pleasure of the President of the republic. “It would be the President’s snap of a finger,” Padilla reportedly said, “that would decide the speakership.”
Say again? Isn’t the legislature supposed to be an independent branch of government? Perhaps Padilla is guilty mainly of candor. After all, even before martial law, some legislators have been known to do the bidding of Malacanang as long as the price is right. Back then the purchase of political loyalties was not as brazen as the distribution of bundles of cash in brown paper bags. During the Marcos regime, larger bundles might have been given away but in better packaging.
Rubber stamps do serve a purpose, but they tend to have diminishing returns. Ferdinand Marcos made the national assembly a rubber stamp of Malacañang, and this was one of the biggest causes of public disenchantment with his regime. After the assembly officially proclaimed his victory over Corazon Aquino in the 1986 snap presidential election, it was only a matter of days before his regime collapsed.
Padilla issued his statement amid a widening rift between President Arroyo and De Venecia, who is serving an unprecedented fifth term as Speaker. No one has a permanent title to the top post in the House of Representatives. In both chambers of Congress, leaders can be replaced any time. Their political survival depends on their skills at satisfying the partisan demands of their peers. Yet there have been moments in the recent past when lawmakers rose above their selfish interests and served the nation well.
If ever De Venecia is replaced, it must not be for the purpose of turning the House into a Palace rubber stamp. This is one of the worst times for the House to abdicate its role of checking the abuses of the executive.