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Business
groups are said to be watching intently the race for the
speakership in the House of Representatives as a new
challenge grows in momentum against the leadership of
Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., on what comebacking Manila
congressman Amado Bagatsing said is a need to change the
image of the House as composed mainly of traditional
politicians (trapo).
Businessmen favor dynamism in the House and this could
come about—perception-wise—on a change in the
leadership.
“Anything new means fresh ideas,” said one entrepreneur,
who, like other businessmen, looked with disfavor at the
failed attempt to amend the Charter.
The
amendment of the Charter, which was supposed to abolish
the Senate, is now becoming the focal point to the
challenge against Speaker de Venecia.
The
challenger, Cebu congressman-elect Pablo Garcia, was one
of those who opposed the Charter-change scenario that
JDV pushed for. This is precisely the reason why the
Liberal Party, as reported yesterday, is throwing its
support for Mr. Garcia, now on the verge of having the
numbers to topple the congressman from Pangasinan.
Speaker
de Venecia is now battling a pernicious perception of
the House as an institution that initiated the
emotional-driven Charter change that resulted in deep
division in the country. That division is something that
the business groups do not want to happen as it takes
out the entrepreneurial drive.
Because
of the proposed changes in the Constitution, many
businessmen had to forego their expansion plans and even
their projections in view of the possible repercussions
from the emotionally charged atmosphere brought about by
the proposed Charter amendments.
In fact,
some businessmen are again wary of another de Venecia
speakership as they fear that the proposed changes could
again come about.
This is
what congressman-elect Bagatsing, who was in the
construction business, harped on when he said: “We must
change this image of the House composed mainly of
traditional politicians. Instead, we should provide the
public with proof that the new House will strike in a
new fresh direction to tackle the new problems facing
the country, instead of being shackled by past
conflicts, such as those arising from the Charter-change
proposal. What we need right now is chamber change,” he
stressed.
According to Bagatsing, many congressmen elected in the
last elections want to “participate actively in House
activities, in taking new steps in the right direction
to heal the nation’s wounds and craft legislation that
would put the country on the road to national unity and
progress.”
That is
a telling indictment of the erstwhile move of Speaker de
Venecia to push for amendments to the Charter. This was
also echoed by Liberal Party president Florencio Abad,
who announced yesterday that the party is talking
earnestly with Garcia on the issue of the change in the
speakership.
There
have been great changes in the economic horizon: the
stock market is vibrant, the peso-dollar rate is bubbly
and the investment mood is exuberant.
Businessmen are in an upbeat mood as evinced by the
latest Business Expectations Survey of the Bangko
Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). This is why the business
community, in particular, and the nation, in general,
can ill afford another divisive atmosphere that could
accrue from another Charter-change move. It is no wonder
then that the businessmen could be cheering for a fresh
face and with it fresh ideas to supplant the trapo
perception that has been unkindly heaped on the House.
A new
face, after all, could bring in fresh ideas ranging from
the launch of new financial products that the nation’s
new heroes, the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), could
dabble in. So far, most of the more than $1-billion
monthly remittances of the OFWs are being spent on
consumer goods.
What the
country needs is to redirect majority of those money
into the capital market that they may be used to produce
more goods and services and even fine-tune the
competitive edge of the country. The BSP and the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are coming up
with info kits to let the families of the OFWs to learn
the rudiments of investing.
Growth
arising from investments, and not consumption, is what
the nation’s economic managers have been aspiring for.
Investment-led growth, after all, results in a far more
healthy economy than a consumption-driven growth. The
former is more lasting and, in fact, is a paradigm that
the leadership of the House of Representatives should
aspire for—not another political question that is better
left to the forces of the “market.”
This is
why some businessmen are now silently rooting for a
fresh face in the leadership of the House. A fresh face
signifies new dynamism, which is what is needed right
now.
E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com |
