Tuesday, February 12, 2008 JDV never gave equal attention to VisMin By Ben O. Tesiorna
FORMER House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.'s downfall could be attributed partly to his imperialistic attitude against congressmen coming from Visayas and Mindanao.
This was the opinion made by Davao del Sur Governor Douglas Ra Cagas, a former congressman.
In an interview Sunday evening, Cagas said de Venecia never gave equal attention to congressmen coming from Visayas and Mindanao the way he does to Luzon lawmakers.
He said this could be the reason why most neophyte congressmen sided with Speaker Prospero Nograles of Davao City.
Asked if his son, Representative Marc Cagas, asked for his advice in his decision to support Nograles instead of de Venecia, the governor said his son merely informed him, but never asked for his advice.
"He has a mind of his own. He makes his own decision," the governor said.
The Mindanao bloc, consisting of about 60 congressmen, were the ones who readily gave their support to Nograles when rumors abound about the coup plot to unseat de Venecia as speaker.
Nograles said the neophyte congressmen wanted a new style of management in the Lower House, thus the change of leadership.
