Friday, June 01, 2007 Liberal-Drilon wing backs Pablo bid
LESS than a week into his campaign to become Speaker of the House of Representatives, Congressman-elect Pablo “Pabling” Garcia expects to get a formal written endorsement today from the Liberal Party, headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon.
Garcia’s son, Congressman-elect Pablo John Garcia of Cebu’s third district, announced yesterday that they received a call from Drilon telling them that his group from the Liberal Party met and decided to throw their support behind the former Cebu governor.
“Slowly but surely, we are getting there. (Speaker Jose de Venecia) is throwing numbers and names around but we are not the kind to name-drop,” said Pablo John.
It remained unconfirmed whether the Liberal Party wing headed by Manila Mayor Lito Atienza will also support Garcia’s bid.
Aside from Drilon’s group, Pablo John said they also have a core group from the Kabalikat ng Masang Pilipino (Kampi) led by president Luis Villafuerte, from Lakas and the Nationalist People’s Coalition.
Pablo John also disclosed that they are now conducting talks with Sen. Manuel Villar, head of the Nacionalista Party.
Serving three terms in the Lower House before serving three terms as Cebu governor since 1995, Pabling Garcia is now vying to replace de Venecia and become the second Cebuano House speaker.
The first one was Sergio Osmeña Sr., who was elected 100 years ago, at the age of 29. Osmeña is the youngest ever to become Speaker and held the position from 1907 to 1922.
Garcia has admitted he is up against “a giant” but in an interview over national television yesterday, he reiterated his bid to “improve the tattered image” of the Lower House.
“The House has the lowest in terms of public approval ratings, consistently in the last six years, so that the congressmen who urged me to run said that what the House needs is chamber change,” he said.
Kampi’s Villafuerte has also said the clamor for a change in leadership is so strong that even bribery, if anybody dares to attempt it, will not work.
“The clamor for institutional reforms is very strong that even the private sector is joining the call,” said Villafuerte.
Moments after Garcia and Villafuerte appeared in cable news channel ANC’s “The Big Picture”, House Speaker Jose de Venecia stressed in the same program that despite the clamor from Villafuerte’s “splinter group,” the members of Kampi are “overwhelmingly in my favor.”
He further alleged that Villafuerte is eyeing the chairmanship of the House appropriations committee and is only using the speakership campaign to gain leverage.
At least 123 votes are needed to elect the next Speaker of the House.
If he manages to defeat de Venecia, Pabling promises to pursue an equitable allocation of committee chairmanships, which he said is now “being used as an instrument of political patronage and accommodation.”
He said the distribution of committees must be based on merit and competence and even freshmen congressmen qualified for the job must be appointed.
“As it is now, it is based on longevity of tenure and personal proximity to the Speaker and not on the qualifications of industry and competence,” Garcia said.
After four terms as Speaker, de Venecia is bent on seeking a fifth term. So far, de Venecia claimed he has the support of most political parties and at least 190 “commitments” from the incoming members of the House.
Under the House Rules, whoever gets the second highest number of votes for the speakership automatically assumes the position of minority floor leader.
In effect, even if the Villafuerte-led campaign fails to replace de Venecia as Speaker, it would still allow the two parties allied with President Arroyo—Lakas and Kampi—to control both majority and minority positions in the House. (JPM/With IDA)
