Thursday, May 31, 2007 Espinoza: Lawmaker from the south as House Speaker By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
“MAY the best man win” was the curt remark of Jose de Venecia on Kampi’s move to replace him as House Speaker. Kampi is the party of President Arroyo. Kampi’s membership increased in the last elections when some Lakas-CMD members who ran for Congress jumped to Kampi for obvious reasons.
The push for congressman-elect Pabling Garcia to challenge de Venecia for the post of 14th Congress speaker caused agitation within the administration coalition. Also, contrasting statements from Kampi chairman, Interior and Local Governments Secretary Renato Puno, and Kampi president Luis Villafuerte showed cracks in Kampi’s leadership.
Puno said Kampi will continue to support de Venecia’s leadership in the House but Villafuerte is spearheading a push for change in the House leadership. He endorsed Pabling as de Venecia’s challenger.
The move to replace de Venecia, though, has gained ground among House representatives in the Visayas and Mindanao. The argument is that the post should be given to somebody from the south.
We certainly would love to see a Cebuano (though not necessarily Garcia) as speaker of the House especially because de Venecia has been holding that post for a long time already.
Rep. Eddie Gullas and Rep. Raul del Mar, who is currently the deputy speaker, were also rumored to be open to the draft for the post of speaker. But Garcia considered these talks as merely intended to divide the vote of Cebu’s lawmakers. *** The low turnout of voters in Cebu City’s south district only affirmed my earlier observation that negative vote buying using indelible ink was rampant in this area.
Of the 251,532 registered voters from 34 barangays in the south district, only 168,470 voted. Or three out of ten voters did not vote. The north district had a higher turnout than the south.
The camps of Rep. Tony Cuenco and his challenger Atan Guardo traded barbs, including one about negative vote buying, before the elections. But no one surfaced to prove the allegations.
Information I personally gathered said that “lansangan” (nailing) was employed in the last elections. I was told that some leaders and supporters of a congressional bet in the south district were “paid not to vote” and their index fingers marked with indelible ink the night before voting day. This explains the low turnout of voters.
***
After a lull of several years, the mining industry in the country is back and is again spurring the country’s economy.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Assistant Secretary Jerry Dolino made this assessment during the induction of officers of the Philippine Society of Mining Engineers, Visayas chapter, led by Engr. Loreto B. Alburo, at Parklane Hotel Saturday night.
Asec Dolino said the increase in the number of mining operations in the country is mainly due to the liberal approach that DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes implemented.
Dolino said his experience showed that mining operations trigger economic growth. Places where mining operates have become cities. The problem now however, according to him, is the lack of mining engineers in the country.
Dolino said that Secretary Reyes wants transparency during his watch. The computerization program of the department aimed at improving its services is ongoing.
Dolino added that plans are afoot to discourage the export of the country’s raw ore. Mining industry players will be required to process the ore here to get better prices for the precious minerals as well as help erssolve the country’s unemployment problem.
