Malacañang yesterday moved to douse ouster talks on Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. by publicly assuring the House leader that he will retain his position when Congress resumes sessions on Monday, Nov. 5.
This assurance comes amid strong talk that De Venecia has been soliciting signatures from Lakas members for the impeach-ment complaint against President Arroyo which was filed by lawyer Ruel Pulido and endorsed by Laguna Rep. Edgar San Luis.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said De Venecia can now sleep soundly because it is unlikely that allies of the President in the House would launch a “coup” against him.
“I’m not with the political office of the President but I can tell you that for the purpose of stability this (De Venecia’s ouster) is highly unlikely. There would be some effort or attempt at having those moves to change the political setup in the lower house but I can see it would be an ordinary session day (when the House resumes Monday),” he said.
A congressional source, however, told the Tribune that while there may be no change of Speakers when Congress resumes sessions, he claimed the Speaker will be ousted anyway—after the impeachment bid is killed.
“For (Mrs. Arroyo), JdV’s only weapon against her is the impeachment complaint, but this will be killed and what else will JdV have to counter her moves to have him out as Speaker?”, the source pointed out.
At the same time, Ermita claimed that that not even an impeachment complaint against the President can distract her from her focus in improving the country’s economy.
He added that he hopes the critics would soon realize the aim of Mrs. Arroyo, which is improving the country’s economy.
“Whenever the media ask me to respond on the certain actions of the opposition, my usual reply is: That is expected from them. The opposition as much as possible would like to have an agenda thrown back at the administration, but the President understands that and she is very confident because the important thing in life, as far as governance is concerned, is economics. When our economy is okay then everything is okay, but it would help very much if we have political stability, that is very important too,” he said.
Ermita noted that the Chief Executive is a clever politician, having so many years of experience in the government service and the kind of politicking in this country.
“She can endure all that because she knows that these are all part of political dynamics. That’s why she is holding up very well. She knows what to do,” he said.
The Palace reaction came in the midst of an opposition plan to file an amended impeachment complaint at the House of Representatives to strengthen what was being referred to as a bogus impeachment complaint.
Earlier, on the basis of statements made by Pulido and San Luis that they welcomed the opposition’s move to strengthen the impeachment complaint filed and endorsed by the two, the opposition moved to ready a stronger complaint against Mrs. Arroyo, saying there is a better chance for the opposition to have her impeached, owing to the strained relationship between the Speaker and Mrs. Arroyo, on account of the whistleblowing activity of the Speaker’s son and namesake, Jose “Joey” de Venecia lll on the overpriced ZTE National Broadband Network project, during the Senate hearings.
Former Sen. and Ambassador Ernesto Maceda, executive committee member of UNO, said the complaint will include the controversial $329-million ZTE dealdeal and the alleged “pay-offs” to lawmakers and local officials early this month at Malacañang.
It will include statements issued by Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio and Bulacan Gov. Jonjon Mendoza, who both admitted receiving pay-offs in the amount of P500,000 each, which the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP) later claimed came from the organization intended for “alliance and capability-building seminars.”
Another opposition lawyer, Neri Colmenares, said in a TV interview that the amended complaint will also include the Hello Garci wiretap tapes, along with other issues against Mrs. Arroyo.
Maceda said the strong impeachment complaint was finished and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, UNO president, has given the nod to file this by Monday morning.
In filing the complaint, UNO will be joined by party-list groups allied with the opposition such as Bayan Muna at the House of Representatives.
Aside from opposition congressmen, Maceda believes the opposition can muster the support of administration congressmen especially from Lakas who are fending off an ouster plot against De Venecia.
UNO is optimistic it can secure at least 80 congressmen especially if Malacañang moves to have De Venecia deposed, and install as Speaker Rep. Prospero Nograles, saying this could widen the base of support for the impeachment bid.
Earlier, Malacañang admitted that the relationship between De Venecia and President Arroyo had turned sour but denied that the Chief Executive was behind the moves by some members in the Hous to oust him from the top post.
In a radio interview over dzMM, Department of the Interior and Local Government secretary and concurrent presidential adviser on political affairs Ronaldo Puno said he has been trying his best to mend the crack but he himself was confused on the negative statements coming out from the camp of De Venecia directed against the Chief Executive.
“We’re really confused here in the Palace, because his statements before us is different from what he is saying before the media, or his actions which we had been observing,” he said.
It is believed that the assurance being given to De Venecia by the Palace is merely a ploy to keep the Speaker from actively supporting the impeachment bid through covert actions.
