Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Wenceslao: ‘Napakasakit, Kuya Tony’ By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
I HEARD that phrase, a takeoff from the title of an old Tagalog song “Napakasakit, Kuya Eddie,” uttered by Rep. Pablo Garcia in a radio interview the other day. That was meant to be a joke, of course. But having been outmaneuvered by supporters of Rep. Jose de Venecia in the race for House Speaker, Garcia’s frustration can be gleaned there.
Tony was Rep. Antonio Cuenco, who nominated de Venecia over fellow Cebuano Garcia in that tumultuous inaugural session of the 14th House of Representatives last Monday. Cuenco spoke glowingly of de Venecia as the best diplomat (translation: dispenser of favors) among them. That was some knife twisted deep in Garcia’s back.
But Garcia was, as they say, not born yesterday. Having served the House for three terms before he became a three-termer Cebu governor, he is familiar with the ways of trapo politics. He knew that Cuenco’s offer to support him was a case of namamangka sa dalawang ilog. Cuenco just did not want to be left out whoever wins as Speaker.
Frankly, among the Cebuano lawmakers, Cuenco was the one who amused me the most with his flip-flopping between Garcia and de Venecia. He would announce one day that he was for de Venecia, then on another occasion say he might be for Garcia. In the end, I just had to shut him off. The unprincipled stance was already grating to my ears.
To be fair with Cuenco, while he was vocal, he was not the only like-minded Cebuano legislator. Raul Del Mar was for de Venecia, though unlike Cuenco he made his stand known earlier and did not waver. Red Durano played it safe by not being definite and Eduardo Gullas kept himself scarce. But people knew where their sympathies lay.
Besides, if Cebuano lawmakers were to band together for a common cause, like pushing one of them for the post of House Speaker, Noy Pabling couldn’t be the uniting factor. He only has the support of One Cebu lawmakers. Del Mar and Cuenco are with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan. Gullas is with Alayon. Durano is with Bakud.
The lack of unity among Cebuano lawmakers was what the de Venecia camp toyed with. Sunshine Joe asking Cuenco to nominate him was a move of Machiavellian proportion. (The tragedy there was that Cuenco gladly played the role of puppet.) And who floated the idea earlier that del Mar and Gullas also wanted the post of Speaker?
If politicians were only guided by platforms, Noy Pabling could have won. His call for reform sounded sensible only because of the unprincipled manner de Venecia has been running (and ruining, as far as image is concerned) the House. A non-performing House, like the one under de Venecia’s previous term, needs to be whipped into shape.
But the House is not an idealist domain; rather, it is a haven of trapos, meaning everything operates there but principled action. This is why many people are opposed to a unicameral parliamentary system. Imagine what kind of a parliament we will have with the same politicians who made Monday’s inaugural session laughable as members.
Anyway, if Garcia and his supporters are really sincere in effecting reforms in the House, they can make good their plan to form a separate and independent bloc. That, of course, will be a big test considering the ways of Sunshine Joe. He can break up that bloc by merely using his power to dispense favors to weaken the resolve of Garcia supporters.
