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INTERIOR
Secretary Ronaldo Puno said Monday that the Kabalikat ng
Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) will remain in the
administration coalition as he assured the party’s
support to Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr.’s bid for the top
House post in the opening of the 14th Congress on July
23.
In a
news conference in his office at the National Police
Headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Puno, national
chairman of Kampi, admitted though that there are some
party members, particularly reelected Kampi Rep. Luis
Villafuerte of Camarines Sur, who are supporting the bid
of former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia to take the
position of House Speaker after he was elected as
congressman of Cebu.
But Puno
said party officials and members will settle the issue
from among themselves even as he assured that Kampi will
remain with the administration coalition.
“We will
settle these issues among ourselves. We will remain with
the coalition,” Puno said.
Villafuerte, who is Kampi president, has been vocal
about his support to Garcia’s bid for the speakership.
Villafuerte claimed he has the backing of several Kampi
members who are seeking reforms in the leadership of
Congress.
However,
Puno claimed that majority of his partymates favor the
continuity of de Venecia’s leadership.
De
Venecia is the chairman of Lakas.
“There
are some rumblings within the party [Kampi] but I am
confident that in due time, these will be settled,” Puno
said.
Puno
added that he will call a national executive council
meeting of Kampi within the next few days to thresh out
differences on the choice of Speaker of the House.
So far,
Puno said that there are 53 to 58 Kampi members who were
elected to the House of Representatives during the May
14 elections while 82 Lakas members made it to the Lower
House.
Puno
also explained that it will not be prudent on the part
of Kampi to bolt out of the administration coalition in
order to take the realm as “minority block” at the House
of Representatives.
“It will
be hypocrite for us to claim that we are the minority
and pretend that we are the opposition. We will
definitely stay with the majority,” he said.
Puno
also cited the “very good showing” of Kampi members in
winning elective posts in the May 14 elections, adding
that 70 percent of them who ran were victorious in their
election bid.
Besides
the 53 Kampi members who won in the congressional race,
Puno said that there are also 16 party members who won
in the gubernatorial race and 12 city and town mayors.
Party-list Rep. Crispin Beltran of Anakpawis, meanwhile,
express support for calls for a “Chamber Change” in the
House of Representatives, saying that there was a
serious need to overhaul not only the leadership of the
House, but the orientation of the legislative body as
well.
“It’s
not only leadership of the House that should be changed,
but the very orientation of the House of
Representatives. Jose de Venecia Jr. has had four terms
as Speaker of the House, and under his leadership, the
House has not been an independent body from Malacañang,”
Beltran said.
He added
that Congress remains a bastion of traditional politics
and where propoor, pro-people and patriotic national
legislation hardly ever sees the light of day.
“Progressive lawmakers have to fight tooth and nail to
defend their bills and resolutions that aim to address
the Filipino people’s worsening poverty; but these same
measures often do not leave the committee level; and
those which do are butchered in plenary session. House
Bill 345 in the 13th Congress, for instance, was already
approved but because of pressure from Malacañang and
strait-arming of its allies in the House, the bill was
recalled,” he said.
HB 345
is the bill legislating a P125 across-the-board wage
increase.
While
admittedly surprised by the move, Lakas leaders are
unfazed by the bid of Garcia for the House speakership
because the ruling party has the numbers to ensure de
Venecia’s victory.
Presidential Political Adviser Gabriel Claudio, who is
Lakas senior deputy secretary-general, said that Lakas
and Kampi can “better serve” the President’s political
and economic reform agenda if they have a common
candidate for House speaker.
Asked
about Garcia’s bid, Claudio said: “It’s a new and
surprising development. There appears to be some
variance in the position and pronouncements of Kampi’s
leaders. It’s a matter that may need to be threshed out
and clarified internally first by Kampi.”
Chief
Presidential Counsel Sergio Apostol, Lakas spokesman and
regional chairman for Eastern Visayas, said that Lakas
is not worried about the development.
“We do
not consider it a problem. Based on the estimate, Pablo
Garcia has 42 supporters from the House compared to more
than 100 supporters of JdV. JdV will make it,” Apostol
said, adding that such positioning is “normal.”
Heherson
Alvarez, Lakas national spokesman and vice president,
said Garcia’s bid is a mere tactic to get more committee
chairmanships.
“I don’t
think they plan to change the leadership.
JdV’s
leadership is tried and tested. We are confident that he
would not be replaced,” he said.
But
unlike Claudio and Apostol, Alvarez believes that the
President should intervene in the matter this early to
prevent any the rift between the two parties and thus
protect her legislative agenda.
--With R. Acosta and M.
Gonzalez |
