By Carlos H. Conde
International Herald Tribune
Published: February 5, 2008
MANILA: The political turmoil of the Philippines deepened Tuesday after congressional allies of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo voted to remove the longtime speaker of the House of Representatives.
The speaker, Jose de Venecia, sharply criticized Arroyo and her party in an hourlong televised speech Monday night. The chamber then voted to strip de Venecia of his duties as speaker of the House, a position he had held for 12 years.
“It’s simple arrogance,” de Venecia told lawmakers. “Just plain arrogance that Malacañang and the people of the Palace are above the law,” he said, referring to the presidential palace.
Prospero Nograles, a close ally of Arroyo, will succeed de Venecia as leader of the House of Representatives.
De Venecia blamed his ouster on Arroyo’s allies in Congress, particularly Juan Miguel Arroyo and Diosdado Arroyo, sons of the president.
He said the vote to oust him was motivated by revenge, as his own son had charged Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, with having tried to help a $329 million contract between the government and a Chinese company in exchange for a bribe.
The son, Jose de Venecia III, testified in a Senate hearing last year on the matter. Arroyo’s husband has denied the charges.
De Venecia added Tuesday that he had evidence of fraud in the 2004 presidential elections, which Arroyo won. He also accused the military of having attempted to kill him and his son.
In his speech Monday night, the former House speaker all but claimed credit for the political fortunes of Gloria Arroyo. In 1998, he said, Arroyo had asked him to be her vice presidential candidate. Since then, he said, he had stood by Arroyo in the face of numerous political scandals.
“In every challenge in the life of President Arroyo, I was there, standing beside her,” de Venecia said. He also said that he had allowed his son to testify against the president’s husband out of a moral obligation, repeatedly referring to the “moral revolution” that he said he had introduced in Congress.
Arroyo, speaking at an energy conference Tuesday, said she would not comment on the leadership change. “We are focused, like a laser, pointed on the infrastructure boom, and the expansion of public services, and not on politics.”
According to Ignacio Bunye, Arroyo’s spokesman, de Venecia had been offered a “graceful exit” - to step down and be spared the vote - during a meeting with the president and party leaders on Monday. “But he insisted” on the vote, Bunye told reporters Tuesday.
On Tuesday, de Venecia vowed to cooperate with the political opposition in “fighting corruption” and hinted that he would disclose more information that was potentially damaging to the administration.
The opposition responded by calling de Venecia a “treasure trove” for 2010, the year the country is next scheduled to hold presidential elections.
“This is not the end,” Alfredo Lim, executive director of an influential business group, told ABS-CBN television.
“The change of speaker does not mean that things will go smoothly from now on. In fact, it introduces an element of political instability, which gets in the way of legislation.”
