(February 4, 2008 – Manila) – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Jose de Vencia of the 4th district of Pangasinan province gave perhaps his valedictory and farewell speech today but did not step down from the fourth highest political office of the Philippines without a powerful confession.
Before the rostrum of the House of Representatives, Speaker De Venecia emphasized that he “is a sinner,” and has engaged in a sort of “confession” before fellow members of Congress and to the general public about the inner workings of politics in the country.
The Speaker stated that he has been engaged in a process of “moral recovery,” in an attempt to curve corruption in the country and promote the process of transparency in the dealings of government .
De Venecia was about to lose his position that he has held for twelve years, the longest for any Speaker of the House under the 1986 Constitution but he did not step down without leaving behind statements that re-affirms the lingering political malaise that has troubled the affairs of the state.
The privilege speech given by De Venecia did not spare nor leave out some of the sordid details of how his relationship developed and floundered with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in almost sixteen years of political and personal relationship.
The speech has dealt on issues detailing how certain government projects usually bidded out were allegedly manipulated to favor friends and members of the first family; the usual political manueverings; that use of pressure against members of Congress on the release of the pork barrel on conditions set by the administration of President Arroyo; to alleged accusations that representatives of the administration even threatened mortal physical harm against the Speaker and his son.
The Speaker now joins the ranks of political leaders who were once allied to the Arroyo administration and has openly declared that there will be more confessions to come.
The Agonizing Vote
The very minute this blog is being written, the 240 members of the 14th session of the House of Representatives are voting on an initiative calling to declare vacant the post of House Speaker and the process has adopted nominal voting allowing members of Congress to explain their votes.
A simple but an already inearthly complicated legislative process get complicated further as most members of Congress takes advantage of their 3-minutes of fame to speak on national television and radio, not just to explain their position but to push for their own personal political agenda.
Others plainly vote for Yes or No while others dare justify their positions, basically to justify before the eyes of their former patron, De Venecia as to why they will abandon him and also before Arroyo as to why, perhaps in order to be shielded from any political repercussions of the currently ruling elite.
The vote to vacate the position of Speaker was also an oppurtune time to pay tribute to De Venecia, “judge” the Speaker for past success and failures, and see along the way the legisator’s loyalties.
Minutes past 10 in the evening, not even half of the 240 members of Congress has given their vote (nor has completed the process of expressing their sentiments), expecting the entire process of ousting De Venecia to play out beyond midnight.
A simple process of voting turned into opportunities to preach, read passages from the Bible, reminisce, attempts to apologize, reason out their apparent 'betrayal,' reaching at a low level for some to appeal that they won't lose the precious Committee Chair positions when the new Speaker is elected, while some even dared to lift dialogue from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," as if to show the whole world that they know the Master's work (or they're simply dense and boring orators).
The process of nominal voting should also be taken into consideration as a process or play on how the Filipino practice called, “utang na loob” or gratitude. It is a Filipino custom wherein, Pinoys are more considerate and owe loyalty to people who have helped them in the past.
The gambit that De Venecia faced today is like a parade of faces who once sought his blessings who have chosen to remain standing beside him, faces who defied him before but because he now opposed Arroyo are now with him or for the rest who are now spitting at the man who once patronized them.
Minutes passed after midnight, De Venecia lost the Speakership to a vote of 174 Ayes, with 35 Nays and 16 Abstentions, paving the way for the election of Rep. Prospero C. Nograles of the 1st district of Davao City as the next Speaker and the first to represent the island of Mindanao.
The Art of Power Brokering
Jose De Venecia’s rapid rise to power started in 1992 when his province mate, former Philippine Constabulary General Fidel V. Ramos, who rose to the power ladder by turning his back on his cousin Ferdinand Marcos to support the then opposition leader Corazon C. Aquino during the first People Power Revolution of 1986.
De Venecia was into politics as early as the late sixties, even becoming a member of the Cabinet of then President Ferdinand Marcos, but real power gravitated towards him when he teamed with Ramos.
Ramos owes De Venecia his presidency in a great part. In 1992, Ramos sought the nomination as presidential candidate of the them dominant party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino or the LDP but was shut out by then House Speaker and LDP party leader Ramon Mitra, Jr. who would later become the presidential standard bearer of the party.
After losing the nomination and access to the mighty party machinery of the LDP, Ramos and with the help of De Venecia, formed a political party from scratch and established the Partido ng Lakas Tao, later becoming Lakas Christian Democrat, perhaps one of the new generation of political parties that espoused an ideologue - the principles of a Christian Democrat.
De Venecia's rise to the Speakership was not by all means without causing a political brawl and months leading to the elections of 1992, Ramon Mitra, Jr. was politically damaged when the House's printing press were raided and exposed as being used by Mitra for personal reasons to promote his candidacy.
Ironically, the call to have De Venecia vacate the post of Speaker was delivered by no less than the son of Mitra, Abraham Kahlil Mitra who inherited by election the right to represent the 2nd district of Palawan province, a case of fait accompli.
De Venecia rode on the rise to power of Ramos and from then on, has become the political broker or "King Maker" of the time, elected to the Speakership, until he decided to run instead as the “King” in 1998’s presidential elections, losing to a popular candidate, then Vice President Joseph Estrada.
The Speaker proved himself to be a wily leader who has brokered a usually politically fractured Congress towards a stable majority composed of parties who coalesced to form order and control.
De Venecia, fondly called by colleagues and by the as J.D.V. coined a term for his success, coalescing political parties under his command as the. “Rainbow Coalition,” made up of a motley crue of politicians who came forward to pass on important legislation when the push comes to a shove.
During the Ramos administration, De Venecia proved effective in his duties, clearly defining the separation of the House before the Executive branch but still his efforts were short of being described as a rubber stamp Congress at the whim of Ramos. The partnership however proved beneficial to the Philippines, having given the ability to legislate with little politically motivated opposition to Ramos legislations.
Regardless of how the relationship of Ramos and De Venecia worked out, Congress and with a very cautious constructive support of the upper chamber, the Senate, important bills and acts were passed that brought the Philippines into a new level of economic prosperity in the mid-nineties.
The Speaker was able to show the whole country that under his stewardship, the House was prepared to become partners for change, change that De Venecia banked on including his apparent political respectability and partnership with Ramos as the impetus to seek higher office and run for President in 1998.
De Venecia also led the political party of all parties at that time, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and with the endorsement of President Fidel Ramos who was riding on a perception of effective leadership, had a real chance of taking the Philippines into the new millennium.
However, the wind of political change that De Venecia espoused was not enough to beat the tide of popularity that carried former movie actor Joseph Estrada into the Presidency.
Fortunes were however different for De Venecia’s running mate, a first term Senator was brought in as candidate for Vice President, the lady from Pampanga province, a Presidential daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo belonged to a party she formed (party called KAMPI) when she first ran for office in 1995 but was welcomed into Lakas-CMD, forming an alliance, creating a coalition that De Venecia espoused and was good at.
Arroyo was more fortunate than De Venecia and was elected to the post of Vice President, winning more votes at that time compared to Estrada who won the largest margin against De Venecia. Arroyo was later to become President when Estrada was swept out of office on charges of corruption in 2001.
The "King-Maker" Bows Before the Queen
From 1998 until 2001, De Venecia was out of office but not necessarily out of circulation and come election time of 2001, he returned to office and this time around, with the “blessings” of his former Vice-Presidential candidate who was now President, De Venecia was given the free reign to re-establish the political coalition
However, the third term as Speaker for De Venecia starting in 2001 lacked the luster he had during the years of Ramos, and from the 12th to 13th session of congress, the House failed to pass critical bills that were needed to empower the country in becoming Arroyo’s “Strong Republic.”
In the last six years of the Speaker, the House almost stood frozen with endless political machinations that included the push for a change of the Constitution, to allegedly “extend the term of office of this administration,” to the House’s blocking year-after-year the moves to impeach President Arroyo starting 2004 after getting imbroiled in a fraudulent election.
The House has become in the last six years inutile in conducting its single task – to legislate, resulting to a stand-off that includes the failure to even pass the simple law enacting the annual budget of the Republic.
It is not publicly discussed yet but if there is anything that De Venecia succeeded in doing in his stint during this administration was that he was apparently and perceived to have been able to indirectly thwart all attempts to impeach President Arroyo, which has becoming an annual event every time Congress opens its annual session.
De Venecia was close to losing the vote for the Speakership in 2007, but he prevailed only to face a bitter fight for his ouster seven months later, a sign that the magic of the king maker has finally come to its sad end.
It’s All About Sons
De Venecia’s fall from political grace from what he describes as “the house by the river,” (referring to Malacañang Palace, the home of the President) was a result of the “war of sons.”
In the later parts of 2007, Jose de Venecia’s son, name sake Joey De Venecia pronounced before the public the alleged rigging and favoring of a Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE to build a national internet backbone across the Philippines.
Joey De Venecia declared before a Senate hearing that the First Gentleman, Atty. Jose Miguel T. Arroyo, husband of the President was a direct participant in brokering the awarding of the contract of the national broadband network to the Chinese company.
A member of the Cabinet and the former chair of the Commission on Elections were also named as participants in the contract rigging by the younger De Venecia.
The allegation is now one of the many issues and charges of manipulation that has been thrown against the First Gentleman or for that matter to the entire First Family, and these accusations were not taken lightly by the Arroyos.
The elder De Venecia did not openly and directly endorse his son’s allegations but forwarned that there is a need for transparency.
Ironically, the issue that would lead to the elder De Venecia’s ouster from the Speakership, that was started by his son will be acted upon by no less than the son’s of the First Gentleman.
Mickey and Dato Arroyo, who are both members of Congress allegedly spearheaded the process of ousting De Venecia, as an apparent retalition to the allegations that Joey De Venecia made.
The political alliance or partnership that prospered between Jose De Venecia and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now coming to an end, in the hands of their children, of their sons.
It’s Not About Reform, It’s a Political Vendetta
It is said that the cause for ousting De Venecia is about a change in leadership, to elect some one more effective, or for some one who can enact reform, auspiciously speed up the work of the House.
In reality, the current political circus that plagues the House, regardless whether they admit to their sins and confess their sins, and repent, the drama is all about political vendetta, it is another example of a political tug-of-rope, a costly process for the tax payers.
Whoever gets elected as the next Speaker of the House, the public should be aware, and as a plain simple common sense, not requiring to become a rocket scientist to understand – the next Speaker was chosen not by among the independently minded legislators but by the victory of a political vendetta.
Looking for a New Role, New Horizons
De Venecia has been a Speaker of the house for two Presidents, into three administrations from Fidel Ramos, briefly out of office during Joseph Estrada’s 3-year term and in the last seven years of President Gloria Arroyo.
The gentleman from Pangasinan maybe out of the orbit of political power for now but he has pledged to move towards becoming a constructive critic of the administration he once protected and defended. De Venecia defined his new role as – “praise what’s worth praising and criticize what’s worth criticizing” – in the Arroyo administration.
For what is worth of De Venecia’s last hurrah and his newly proclaimed role as a “moral revolutionist,” and “constructive critic,” he is expected not to keep quiet and with his “confession,” indirectly declared war against his former political “protégé.”
Jose De Venecia, once dubbed “Sunshine Joe,” for his overly positive, sunny disposition on political matters and the sometimes perceived as an exaggerated view of what is to come has finally (or is it?) the end of his day, when the sun finally reached the western horizon, and like any cowboy who has steered the way, rides into the beyond in blazing saddles, bringing the house down and may as well be now called, “Sunset Joe.”
Before the rostrum of the House of Representatives, Speaker De Venecia emphasized that he “is a sinner,” and has engaged in a sort of “confession” before fellow members of Congress and to the general public about the inner workings of politics in the country.
The Speaker stated that he has been engaged in a process of “moral recovery,” in an attempt to curve corruption in the country and promote the process of transparency in the dealings of government .
De Venecia was about to lose his position that he has held for twelve years, the longest for any Speaker of the House under the 1986 Constitution but he did not step down without leaving behind statements that re-affirms the lingering political malaise that has troubled the affairs of the state.
The privilege speech given by De Venecia did not spare nor leave out some of the sordid details of how his relationship developed and floundered with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in almost sixteen years of political and personal relationship.
The speech has dealt on issues detailing how certain government projects usually bidded out were allegedly manipulated to favor friends and members of the first family; the usual political manueverings; that use of pressure against members of Congress on the release of the pork barrel on conditions set by the administration of President Arroyo; to alleged accusations that representatives of the administration even threatened mortal physical harm against the Speaker and his son.
The Speaker now joins the ranks of political leaders who were once allied to the Arroyo administration and has openly declared that there will be more confessions to come.
The Agonizing Vote
The very minute this blog is being written, the 240 members of the 14th session of the House of Representatives are voting on an initiative calling to declare vacant the post of House Speaker and the process has adopted nominal voting allowing members of Congress to explain their votes.
A simple but an already inearthly complicated legislative process get complicated further as most members of Congress takes advantage of their 3-minutes of fame to speak on national television and radio, not just to explain their position but to push for their own personal political agenda.
Others plainly vote for Yes or No while others dare justify their positions, basically to justify before the eyes of their former patron, De Venecia as to why they will abandon him and also before Arroyo as to why, perhaps in order to be shielded from any political repercussions of the currently ruling elite.
The vote to vacate the position of Speaker was also an oppurtune time to pay tribute to De Venecia, “judge” the Speaker for past success and failures, and see along the way the legisator’s loyalties.
Minutes past 10 in the evening, not even half of the 240 members of Congress has given their vote (nor has completed the process of expressing their sentiments), expecting the entire process of ousting De Venecia to play out beyond midnight.
A simple process of voting turned into opportunities to preach, read passages from the Bible, reminisce, attempts to apologize, reason out their apparent 'betrayal,' reaching at a low level for some to appeal that they won't lose the precious Committee Chair positions when the new Speaker is elected, while some even dared to lift dialogue from William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet," as if to show the whole world that they know the Master's work (or they're simply dense and boring orators).
The process of nominal voting should also be taken into consideration as a process or play on how the Filipino practice called, “utang na loob” or gratitude. It is a Filipino custom wherein, Pinoys are more considerate and owe loyalty to people who have helped them in the past.
The gambit that De Venecia faced today is like a parade of faces who once sought his blessings who have chosen to remain standing beside him, faces who defied him before but because he now opposed Arroyo are now with him or for the rest who are now spitting at the man who once patronized them.
Minutes passed after midnight, De Venecia lost the Speakership to a vote of 174 Ayes, with 35 Nays and 16 Abstentions, paving the way for the election of Rep. Prospero C. Nograles of the 1st district of Davao City as the next Speaker and the first to represent the island of Mindanao.
The Art of Power Brokering
Jose De Venecia’s rapid rise to power started in 1992 when his province mate, former Philippine Constabulary General Fidel V. Ramos, who rose to the power ladder by turning his back on his cousin Ferdinand Marcos to support the then opposition leader Corazon C. Aquino during the first People Power Revolution of 1986.
De Venecia was into politics as early as the late sixties, even becoming a member of the Cabinet of then President Ferdinand Marcos, but real power gravitated towards him when he teamed with Ramos.
Ramos owes De Venecia his presidency in a great part. In 1992, Ramos sought the nomination as presidential candidate of the them dominant party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino or the LDP but was shut out by then House Speaker and LDP party leader Ramon Mitra, Jr. who would later become the presidential standard bearer of the party.
After losing the nomination and access to the mighty party machinery of the LDP, Ramos and with the help of De Venecia, formed a political party from scratch and established the Partido ng Lakas Tao, later becoming Lakas Christian Democrat, perhaps one of the new generation of political parties that espoused an ideologue - the principles of a Christian Democrat.
De Venecia's rise to the Speakership was not by all means without causing a political brawl and months leading to the elections of 1992, Ramon Mitra, Jr. was politically damaged when the House's printing press were raided and exposed as being used by Mitra for personal reasons to promote his candidacy.
Ironically, the call to have De Venecia vacate the post of Speaker was delivered by no less than the son of Mitra, Abraham Kahlil Mitra who inherited by election the right to represent the 2nd district of Palawan province, a case of fait accompli.
De Venecia rode on the rise to power of Ramos and from then on, has become the political broker or "King Maker" of the time, elected to the Speakership, until he decided to run instead as the “King” in 1998’s presidential elections, losing to a popular candidate, then Vice President Joseph Estrada.
The Speaker proved himself to be a wily leader who has brokered a usually politically fractured Congress towards a stable majority composed of parties who coalesced to form order and control.
De Venecia, fondly called by colleagues and by the as J.D.V. coined a term for his success, coalescing political parties under his command as the. “Rainbow Coalition,” made up of a motley crue of politicians who came forward to pass on important legislation when the push comes to a shove.
During the Ramos administration, De Venecia proved effective in his duties, clearly defining the separation of the House before the Executive branch but still his efforts were short of being described as a rubber stamp Congress at the whim of Ramos. The partnership however proved beneficial to the Philippines, having given the ability to legislate with little politically motivated opposition to Ramos legislations.
Regardless of how the relationship of Ramos and De Venecia worked out, Congress and with a very cautious constructive support of the upper chamber, the Senate, important bills and acts were passed that brought the Philippines into a new level of economic prosperity in the mid-nineties.
The Speaker was able to show the whole country that under his stewardship, the House was prepared to become partners for change, change that De Venecia banked on including his apparent political respectability and partnership with Ramos as the impetus to seek higher office and run for President in 1998.
De Venecia also led the political party of all parties at that time, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) and with the endorsement of President Fidel Ramos who was riding on a perception of effective leadership, had a real chance of taking the Philippines into the new millennium.
However, the wind of political change that De Venecia espoused was not enough to beat the tide of popularity that carried former movie actor Joseph Estrada into the Presidency.
Fortunes were however different for De Venecia’s running mate, a first term Senator was brought in as candidate for Vice President, the lady from Pampanga province, a Presidential daughter, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Arroyo belonged to a party she formed (party called KAMPI) when she first ran for office in 1995 but was welcomed into Lakas-CMD, forming an alliance, creating a coalition that De Venecia espoused and was good at.
Arroyo was more fortunate than De Venecia and was elected to the post of Vice President, winning more votes at that time compared to Estrada who won the largest margin against De Venecia. Arroyo was later to become President when Estrada was swept out of office on charges of corruption in 2001.
The "King-Maker" Bows Before the Queen
From 1998 until 2001, De Venecia was out of office but not necessarily out of circulation and come election time of 2001, he returned to office and this time around, with the “blessings” of his former Vice-Presidential candidate who was now President, De Venecia was given the free reign to re-establish the political coalition
However, the third term as Speaker for De Venecia starting in 2001 lacked the luster he had during the years of Ramos, and from the 12th to 13th session of congress, the House failed to pass critical bills that were needed to empower the country in becoming Arroyo’s “Strong Republic.”
In the last six years of the Speaker, the House almost stood frozen with endless political machinations that included the push for a change of the Constitution, to allegedly “extend the term of office of this administration,” to the House’s blocking year-after-year the moves to impeach President Arroyo starting 2004 after getting imbroiled in a fraudulent election.
The House has become in the last six years inutile in conducting its single task – to legislate, resulting to a stand-off that includes the failure to even pass the simple law enacting the annual budget of the Republic.
It is not publicly discussed yet but if there is anything that De Venecia succeeded in doing in his stint during this administration was that he was apparently and perceived to have been able to indirectly thwart all attempts to impeach President Arroyo, which has becoming an annual event every time Congress opens its annual session.
De Venecia was close to losing the vote for the Speakership in 2007, but he prevailed only to face a bitter fight for his ouster seven months later, a sign that the magic of the king maker has finally come to its sad end.
It’s All About Sons
De Venecia’s fall from political grace from what he describes as “the house by the river,” (referring to Malacañang Palace, the home of the President) was a result of the “war of sons.”
In the later parts of 2007, Jose de Venecia’s son, name sake Joey De Venecia pronounced before the public the alleged rigging and favoring of a Chinese telecommunications company, ZTE to build a national internet backbone across the Philippines.
Joey De Venecia declared before a Senate hearing that the First Gentleman, Atty. Jose Miguel T. Arroyo, husband of the President was a direct participant in brokering the awarding of the contract of the national broadband network to the Chinese company.
A member of the Cabinet and the former chair of the Commission on Elections were also named as participants in the contract rigging by the younger De Venecia.
The allegation is now one of the many issues and charges of manipulation that has been thrown against the First Gentleman or for that matter to the entire First Family, and these accusations were not taken lightly by the Arroyos.
The elder De Venecia did not openly and directly endorse his son’s allegations but forwarned that there is a need for transparency.
Ironically, the issue that would lead to the elder De Venecia’s ouster from the Speakership, that was started by his son will be acted upon by no less than the son’s of the First Gentleman.
Mickey and Dato Arroyo, who are both members of Congress allegedly spearheaded the process of ousting De Venecia, as an apparent retalition to the allegations that Joey De Venecia made.
The political alliance or partnership that prospered between Jose De Venecia and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is now coming to an end, in the hands of their children, of their sons.
It’s Not About Reform, It’s a Political Vendetta
It is said that the cause for ousting De Venecia is about a change in leadership, to elect some one more effective, or for some one who can enact reform, auspiciously speed up the work of the House.
In reality, the current political circus that plagues the House, regardless whether they admit to their sins and confess their sins, and repent, the drama is all about political vendetta, it is another example of a political tug-of-rope, a costly process for the tax payers.
Whoever gets elected as the next Speaker of the House, the public should be aware, and as a plain simple common sense, not requiring to become a rocket scientist to understand – the next Speaker was chosen not by among the independently minded legislators but by the victory of a political vendetta.
Looking for a New Role, New Horizons
De Venecia has been a Speaker of the house for two Presidents, into three administrations from Fidel Ramos, briefly out of office during Joseph Estrada’s 3-year term and in the last seven years of President Gloria Arroyo.
The gentleman from Pangasinan maybe out of the orbit of political power for now but he has pledged to move towards becoming a constructive critic of the administration he once protected and defended. De Venecia defined his new role as – “praise what’s worth praising and criticize what’s worth criticizing” – in the Arroyo administration.
For what is worth of De Venecia’s last hurrah and his newly proclaimed role as a “moral revolutionist,” and “constructive critic,” he is expected not to keep quiet and with his “confession,” indirectly declared war against his former political “protégé.”
Jose De Venecia, once dubbed “Sunshine Joe,” for his overly positive, sunny disposition on political matters and the sometimes perceived as an exaggerated view of what is to come has finally (or is it?) the end of his day, when the sun finally reached the western horizon, and like any cowboy who has steered the way, rides into the beyond in blazing saddles, bringing the house down and may as well be now called, “Sunset Joe.”
* * *
1 comment:
Hi Dean Bernardo,
Would you, by any chance, have a transcript of the said speech by former Speaker Jose de Venecia?
Thanks!
Kai
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