Ouster plot vs JDV remains, solon says

House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr faces another ouster campaign as political squabbles continue over the canceled $329.4-million contract with China's ZTE Corp., an opposition congressman said Wednesday. Interviewed on radio dzBB, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro City) said the proponents of De Venecia's ouster have already "approached" him about their plans. "I think this group is the Kampi group of Jose Solis (Sorsogon), Luis Villafuerte (Camarines Sur). This was the group which in July challenged the speakership of Speaker De Venecia," said Rodriguez, a spokesman for convicted former President Joseph Estrada. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo founded Kampi, or the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, but sits as chairman of the Lakas party. Rodriguez said the Kampi party was again grooming Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia to eventually replace De Venecia at the House leadership. He raised fears that the group was planning on enticing minority congressmen to join the ouster plot. "I'm sure that they will be doing it. I have some people who have approached me. The minority will decide as a group," Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said he would not support the campaign especially if this will be in retaliation to the testimony of the House Speaker's son, businessman Jose "Joey" de Venecia III, implicating First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to the ZTE deal. "If the only purpose of removing Speaker De Venecia ... is because his son testified and revealed the truth about the ZTE deal, including the participation of the First Gentleman to 'back off' according to Joey de Venecia, I think that will not be a good reason. That's not valid. We will not support that," Rodriguez said. In an earlier interview, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora said the opposition bloc will rally behind the elder De Venecia should Malacañang resort to power play in suppressing the truth on the ZTE deal. "If Malacañang and its allies want to remove him because of his son's testimony, we in the opposition will not allow that," Zamora earlier said in Filipino on dzRH radio. Zamora said this "support" does not include backing for De Venecia on an ethics complaint lodged against the latter by lawyer Ruel Pulido. However, Rodriguez said the minority will study the ethical questions should the proponents of the House Speaker's ouster raise this. "The other thing they are telling us is conflict of interest. This is what we will study, [particularly] the approval of the multimedia telephony franchise owned by Joey de Venecia. According to the complaint of Attorney Pulido before the ethics committee, this was approved at the time Speaker De Venecia was the Speaker and the franchise is owned by his son Joey de Venecia," he said. House members allied with the Palace met in Malacañang last month and discussed the possibility of ousting the elder De Venecia as House Speaker. - GMANews.TV