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Tuesday, February 05, 2008
De Venecia accuses Arroyo gov't of corruption
MANILA -- As the end of his reign as House Speaker appeared closer early Monday night, beleaguered Pangasinan Representative Jose de Venecia Jr. erupted into a litany of accusations of graft and corruption against the Arroyo government in a privilege speech delivered before the open vote to declare the speakership post vacant.
De Venecia particularly dealt on the allegations of massive cheating in the 2004 elections.
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"I know there were many attempts to tamper with the results of the 2004 elections," he said in his privilege speech, which was given a standing ovation by the spectators in the gallery at past 7 p.m. Monday night.
The Speaker said he would discuss his knowledge on the 2004 electoral fraud that was allegedly pulled off at the behest of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in another matter of personal and collective privilege.
"The time has now come for us to speak out, put an end to abuse of power and arrogance!" he said, stressing his call for a moral revolution.
De Venecia blew the whistle on the alleged irregularities in the sale of the National Power Corporation (Transco), which he said was secured by a company closely associated with the Arroyos despite the bigger $6 billion offer of mining magnate Salvador Zamora, brother of minority leader Ronaldo Zamora.
He also made mention of the misuse of the roads users' tax and Arroyo's use of the pork barrel system as a means to whip congressmen into line. De Venecia revealed how the Arroyos at the House were given special treatment in the distribution of the pork barrel.
Stood by her
De Venecia also recounted how he helped then Senator Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to be his vice presidential running mate in 1998 and how he stood by her through every crisis that rocked her administration, from the yearly impeachment cases filed against her to several coup attempts against her government.
Despite this, he said Malacañang and presidential spouse Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo hired lawyer Roel Pulido to file graft cases against him before the committee on ethics and another case against him and his son Joey before the Ombudsman when the latter spilled the beans on the anomalous $329 million national broadband network deal with China 's ZTE Corp.
Not contented, he added, Malacañang even revived the hundred-million-dollar alleged behest loan of his old company Landoil Resources during the Marcos regime.
De Venecia said he could not stop his son from exposing irregularities in the broadband project especially after Joey asked him if he, as then Speaker, would allow further indebtedness to the Filipino people in the amount of $200 million, which represents the overprice in the NBN deal, when there were other bids to carry it out through a build-operate-transfer scheme.
Joey, co-owner of Amsterdam Holdings Inc. (AHI), had offered a bid to carry out the project at a much lower cost to the government.
De Venecia also lambasted Malacañang for not lifting a finger to investigate the threats to his life, including that of his son, amid the scandal.
'Rehash' of issues
Kampi chairman and presidential political adviser Ronaldo Puno said De Venecia's accusations were all a "rehash" of issues discussed in the media in the past few months.
He said there was "nothing new that has not been said by de Venecia's son Joey."
Puno said De Venecia was "just being emotional."
On de Venecia's statement that he knows more about the electoral fraud in the 2004 presidential elections, he said the Speaker should have revealed those things a long time ago.
He said de Venecia should resign from the administration coalition "if he wants to be consistent," adding that the former Speaker should separate himself from the people he has accused.
"I was expecting him to resign from the administration coalition so I don't know what the point of the speech was," said Puno.
He said it is up to Lakas if they want to eject de Venecia.
Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Antonio Apostol, Lakas-CMD spokesman, also said de Venecia was just emotional.
Apostol said Arroyo has done everything for de Venecia and that his fate is now up to the majority coalition.
De Venecia's motion
Before the Speaker ended his speech Monday, he moved to amend the pending motion of Palawan Representative Kahlil Abraham Mitra to declare the Speakership's seat vacant by declaring all seats at the House vacant.
De Venecia was heavily applauded before the session was suspended.
The move to unseat de Venecia began at about 4:32 p.m. Monday when Mitra moved to declare the Speaker's seat vacant, a motion seconded by Sorsogon Representative Jose Solis.
At least 212 out of 239 responded to the roll call in the jampacked session attended by congressional employees, civil society groups, and ordinary citizens. Only a simple majority vote of 121 was needed to unseat de Venecia.
De Venecia's wife Gina and son Joey were in the gallery, watching the biggest political battle of their loved one. (WV/JMR/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cebu. (February 5, 2008 issue)
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