Saturday, June 30, 2007 Speak out: Resolving the speakership issue By Percival de la Torre
WHILE there is probably no prohibition, the clash for Speaker between Jose de Venecia and Pablo Garcia---who both belong to the majority coalition in the House---would create an anomalous situation whereby the minority floor leader (the loser) does not in fact represent the minority party.
This un-traditional situation will come about because, as provided under the rules of the House, the losing contender for House Speaker automatically becomes the minority floor leader.
And party mates of the Speaker and the minority floor leader most likely will sit as chairmen and vice chairmen of the various committees, thus putting on the sideline the members of the legitimate opposition.
Needless to say, the ideal environment to ensure check and balance in the House will soon become history in the 14th Congress.
To avoid this travesty that for all intents and purposes will virtually mute the voice of the legitimate opposition in the House, President Arroyo should advise her allies from Lakas-CMD and Kampi to nominate only one contender for House Speaker.
Or de Venecia and Garcia could come up with a gentleman’s agreement of alternately sitting as House Speaker like what former senator Franklin Drilon and Senate President Manny Villar did in resolving the Senate presidency issue during the previous Congress.
The foregoing options may run counter to their aspiration, but nonetheless they owe it to the nation to oblige themselves and thus ensure that the legitimate opposition be allowed to carry out its time-honored rule as fiscalizer.
By the way, in keeping with tradition, the opposition reportedly is fielding a candidate for House Speaker, which thus put into question how the above-mentioned rule will be applied.
On the assumption that de Venecia wins and Garcia places second, will the latter be designated as the minority floor leader when in fact he belongs to the majority coalition?
In this three-cornered fight that I surmise has not happened in the past congresses because the majority party always had one nominee for House Speaker, I suggest that de Venecia and Garcia, should they push through with their candidacy, be considered as one nominee.
Through this, the position of minority floor leader will go to the opposition’s nominee, who is expected to obtain the least votes among the three.
