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Monday, June 04, 2007
Del Mar keeps pledge to de Venecia
By Linette C. Ramos
CEBU CITY -- Deputy House Speaker Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north) decided to step out of the ongoing “exploratory” talks regarding the fate of occupants of Capitol-owned lots in the city, after announcing his support for House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s reelection bid.
Del Mar said he intends to keep his commitment to de Venecia, which he made before Congressman-elect Pablo “Pabling” Garcia (Cebu, 2nd district) decided to run for Speaker.
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“I have given him (de Venecia) my word, and I will stick to it,” del Mar told Sun.Star Cebu Sunday.
He hopes his decision will not cause divisiveness among local legislators, and that it will not strain his relations with Pabling’s children, Gov. Gwen Garcia and Congressman-elect Pablo John (third district), with whom he is talking to ensure the welfare of Province-owned lot occupants.
When asked if his position will not affect his ongoing talks with the Province, the legislator said he hopes he will still be effective in his role.
“But now that you mentioned it, yes, my position might be an obstacle to the negotiations. Rather than making my position bog down further the exploratory talks on the matter, which is important in reaching an agreement with the Province, I’ll just voluntarily take myself out of the picture,” he said in a phone interview.
The legislator arrived last Saturday night from his trip to New Zealand with the President.
“What’s important for me is the success of the exploratory talks and since my position might be a stumbling block to that, I’m taking myself out from this because my position in the Speakership issue might make me ineffective in dealing with the Province,” he continued.
The Cebu City legislator will leave it to Pablo John and the governor to choose his replacement, someone who will be acceptable to Capitol officials.
Pablo John has been actively campaigning with his father in Manila, wooing different political blocs in Congress to support his father’s bid.
But if Pablo John and Governor Gwen respect his position and do not change their mind, del Mar said he is still willing to remain at the discussion table.
In a phone interview Sunday night, Pablo John said del Mar’s position means one less vote for his father, but they respect the legislator’s decision.
He also said they did not expect to get del Mar’s vote, since they already knew he was campaigning for de Venecia two weeks ago.
“If Congressman del Mar is committed to de Venecia, then we will just have to find one more vote in Pangasinan to offset his vote, although we would have wanted Cebu to be solid on this matter. Because this is beyond my father, it’s an issue that affects the Visayas and Mindanao,” said Pablo John.
He further said legislators from the Visayas and Mindanao believe it is high time for somebody from the south to represent the Lower House, since the President, Vice President, Senate president and the chief justice are from the north.
“But of course, if that sentiment cannot outweigh Congressman del Mar’s commitment to de Venecia, then we respect his position... He has a very powerful position and maybe he feels he may be risking his position if he does not keep his commitment,” Pablo John said.
Other Cebuano legislators have already expressed their support for Pabling.
Despite del Mar’s position on the Speakership issue, Pablo John said the Cebu City legislator is still welcome to ask Capitol about the fate of his constituents who are occupying Province-owned lots.
“I don’t think Capitol and the congressman would be too narrow-minded to think that the Speakership issue will affect talks or negotiations regarding the fate of thousands of families,” he said.
In a phone interview Sunday, del Mar said he made his commitment to de Venecia on the condition that if the latter decides not to run, he himself will run “irrespective of who else is running.”
“It’s different when you say that I’m not supporting Congressman Pabling, as opposed to saying that I will keep my commitment to Speaker de Venecia. Iba ang dating eh if you say I’m not supporting my fellow Cebuano. But even before Congressman Pabling announced his intention to run, I already made a commitment to Speaker de Venecia that I will support his reelection bid,” he said.
Del Mar also admitted signing the manifesto of support for de Venecia’s bid, the same document that Rep. Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) signed.
As for the land swap issue, the legislator said he has no official designation as “negotiator,” and what he has been having with Pablo John are “unofficial, informal” exploratory talks.
He admitted that they have not gone too far in their discussions, but he hopes to achieve mutual cooperation and understanding that will benefit both the City and the Province.
Since the land swap deal is already off and Capitol will be directly dealing with the lot occupants, del Mar said his role is just to see to it that the terms and conditions of the agreement between the two parties will be fair to both the occupants and Capitol.
Del Mar said he is still waiting for the committee formed by the governor to come up with the terms and conditions. (Sun.Star Cebu)>
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (June 4, 2007 issue)
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