Money flows like mad in fight for House Speaker's position

In the frenzied race for speakership of the House of Representatives, money flows like mad, giving congressmen opportunity to recover part of the campaign expenses they spent last May. Various sources said the rival camps have turned the leadership fight into a virtual buyers’ market, with lawmakers also offered perks and positions in exchange for their votes. A veteran legislator who had seen five speakership contests in the previous congresses view this year’s fight between Pangasinan’s Jose de Venecia Jr. and Cebu’s Pablo Garcia as the “most vicious," given the amounts of money changing hands in the course of courting votes. De Venecia is seeking a place in the history of Congress as speaker of the House for five terms. This is Garcia’s first attempt at the speakership. De Venecia is on his third consecutive term and is barred from seeking a congressional seat in the 2010 elections while Garcia is on his first term. The two were colleagues at the House prior to 1998 when De Venecia ran but lost in the presidential race and Garcia ran and won as governor of Cebu, a position occupied by her daughter Gwendolyn for the second term since 2004. While De Venecia appears to have more than the needed 118 votes to bag the plum House post, Garcia seems to have the resources to keep his chief rival jittery over the uncertainty of getting the actual votes on election day. From informal conversations with a number of congressmen, GMANews.TV gathered that the “goodwill" money given to legislators range from a low of P50,000 to a high of P500,000 and another P500,000 pledge each if the contender wins the race. A good number of congressmen, including young first-term lawmakers, have been accepting money from the rival camps, it was learned. “I don’t know what kind of reform these young people are talking about," an old-timer in Congress remarked. According to a Metro Manila congressman, it was Winston Garcia, president and general manager of state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), who has been aggressively courting votes and giving away money in the name of his 81-year-old father who could no longer stand the rigors of campaigning. A Congress source said Winston Garcia has been telling prospective supporters that his father was only after the title of Speaker, and that it would be the younger congressmen who would actually run the affairs of the House. That line has, however, caused a few prospective supporters to shy away from Garcia, noting the presence of some “shady" characters behind the Cebuano lawmaker. “It was like choosing the lesser evil that you know over the other evil that you don’t know," the congressman said in jest. Among those behind the speakership bid of Garcia are Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, Sorsogon Rep. Rodolfo Solis and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez. Winston Garcia’s active role in his father’s campaign had been questioned by some De Venecia allies. At 10 a.m. today, Garcia was scheduled to host a meeting of his supporters at the Manila Golf Club at Forbes Park in Makati. A congressman said there have been talks that more money would change hands during or after the crucial meeting, with the amounts purportedly running from P500,000 to P1 million. “We just don’t know if this is in addition to the first P500,000 given away, or on top of that," according to a trusted source who declined to be named. The first P500,000 was supposed to be in exchange for a vote in favor of settling the De Venecia-Garcia rivalry through a secret balloting. A pledge of another P500,000 was to be given away after the vote via secret balloting wins against the De Venecia camp’s assertion for open voting. A congressman said Garcia’s enticement to congressmen, particularly to first-termers, was reform at the House, particularly in the allocation of its budget and in the functioning of the various committees. “They were saying that JDV has P5 billion funds at his disposal, and this has not been equitably allocated. We were told that we can have as many as 20 members in our staff, from the present six," the source said. From De Venecia’s camp, another source said the P5 billion figure was inaccurate considering that the House has an annual budget of only around P3.5 billion. “I don’t know where they’re getting their figures," the source who was privy to the finances of the House said. “Maybe we should ask where they are getting the money they are giving away, considering that their participation in the speakership race is a big gamble given the fact that JDV has the numbers," the source said. A source outside Congress surmised that Garcia could have earned big money out of commissions from GSIS placements. The same source said this could run into at least P1 billion in “easy money." Another said First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo could also be contributing to Garcia’s speakership bid because of his dislike for De Venecia. Mr. Arroyo’s eldest son, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey," and brother, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo are signatories to the pro-De Venecia manifesto. His other son at the House, newly-elected Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Ignacio “Dato" Arroyo, signed up for Garcia. De Venecia said in an earlier interview that President Arroyo whispered to him and to other congressmen that she was supporting him. But Villafuerte said Mrs. Arroyo’s body language showed she was for Garcia. After one meeting in Malacanang on a Friday in June with De Venecia’s group, Villafuerte said the President immediately called Garcia to the Palace and told him she did not endorse De Venecia. Another source confirmed it, even adding that prior to De Venecia’s visit to the Palace, the President talked to him on the phone and told him not to force him to endorse his speakership bid. That time, de Venecia was ready with the manifesto signed by more than 140 congressmen. After weeks of bitter rivalry, it was learned that Mrs Arroyo had asked both camps to settle their differences and field just one administration candidate for speaker when the first regular session of the 14th Congress opens on Monday, July 23. Both De Venecia and Garcia summoned their respective supporters to separate meetings in neighboring Makati hotels on Saturday in what opposition Rep. Roilo Golez of Paranaque viewed as a “loyalty check." Sources confirmed that the caucuses were intended to see who among the contenders has the number needed to win the fight. Those who attended signed on a “pledge of support" for the candidate. With 219 district congressmen and 15 party-list representatives, a contender needs at least 118 votes (or one-half plus one) of the 234 House members to become speaker. De Venecia’s camp said 154 congressmen showed up at its meeting at Shangri-La Makati’s Quezon Hall. Garcia’s group met at the nearby Dusit (formerly Manila Garden) Hotel. Earlier, De Venecia had boasted of having secured more than 180 commitments of support for his speakership bid. He was referring to the number of congressmen who signed a document with 12-point reform agenda that included a paragraph “ask(ing) him to offer himself for the speakership because we believe he is the best equipped by his track record and strong political will by his understanding of the parliamentary process, his broad legislative experience, his stand in the Asian and international community and his conciliatory spirit could still make or break this legislative program through the 14th Congress." On the other hand, Rep. Luis Villafuerte, chief campaigner of Garcia at the House, said their camp had already reached a “threshold number" that should send shivers to De Venecia’s group. He refused to say what the threshold number was, but another source said it was 80, meaning, the Garcia camp had secured the support of 80 congressmen, a number that could attract the “undecided" bloc to its side. Villafuerte said Garcia’s core supporters come from De Venecia’s party, the Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats, and the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), plus the smaller parties represented in the House. Garcia was among the Lakas founders along with former President Fidel Ramos, and de Venecia way back in 1992 when Ramos ran for President. He switched to Kampi three weeks before the May 2007 elections over differences with Lakas party leaders. Sources said Garcia felt that De Venecia betrayed him in 2004 when De Venecia supported Cebu Rep. Celestino Martinez in the Cebu gubernatorial race over Garcia’s daughter Gwendolyn. Jonjon Osmena, son of former senator John Henry Osmena, also ran for governor of the province that gave President Arroyo a lead of 1.1 million votes in the presidential race. In the last election, Garcia’s group said De Venecia supported the gubernatorial bid of former Rep. Antonio Yapha, who was with the Nationalist People’s Coalition but ran under Partido Demokratikong Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), against Gwendolyn. In both races, Gwendolyn won over De Venecia’s bets. Many congressmen view the fight between De Venecia and Garcia to have been borne out of personal grudges. This prompted Muntinlupa City Rep. Ruffy Biazon to seek permission from his partymates in the Liberal Party to allow him to vote for De Venecia. LP’s 14 other members have pledged their support for Garcia. The LP group is considering the so-called LP-Atienza wing to have disbanded during the May elections since they filed their certificates of candidacy under either Lakas or Kampi. But the Atienza wing still claims to be with LP, and its members are split between Garcia and De Venecia. Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, who ran under Kampi, is with Garcia while Ilocos Sur’s Eric Singson and Quirino’s Junie Cua, who ran under Lakas, are staunch allies of De Venecia. Suarez earlier acted as “liaison" between the De Venecia and Garcia camps in a bid to reunite the LP Drilon and Atienza wings on the side of Garcia. If the De Venecia and Garcia camps would still fail to settle today on who between them would be the administration’s candidate for speaker in Monday’s election at the House, the debate would put President Arroyo in an embarrassing situation where her allies have been engaged in a bruising fight over power and perks . - GMANews.TV