Cebu solon withdraws from speakership race

Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar formally declared yesterday his withdrawal from the speakership race because President Arroyo has appealed for unity within the People Power Coalition (PPC) and former Speaker Jose de Venecia already has the needed votes to clinch the post.

This came as De Venecia’s supporters laughed off claims that his impending election as Speaker would signal the disintegration of the PPC.

Del Mar, now on his fourth term in the House after a three-year hiatus, said he had no choice but to withdraw his bid for the speakership after the President had apparently conceded that former Speaker De Venecia had the numbers to get the post.

"During our meeting with the President in Malacañang last Friday, she acknowledged reports that De Venecia already had the numbers. I got the impression that she was in effect conceding that De Venecia should now be considered the PPC candidate although she stressed that she was maintaining a hands-off policy on the speakership issue," he recalled.

He said that aside from himself, Speaker-aspirants Florencio Abad of Batanes, Vicente Sandoval of Palawan and Carlos Padilla of Nueva Vizcaya, and other congressmen were also present in the Friday meeting.

Del Mar said that the President appealed for unity and asked them to stay in the majority so that they could work hand-in-hand in solving the many problems besetting the country today.

He said that that was their third meeting with the President, and that the President has consistently stressed that the choice of who should be the Speaker is an internal affair of the House.

"The intramurals within the PPC for the House leadership should now be over and it is time to heed the President’s appeal," he said.

Del Mar, a member of the elite group of congressmen with perfect attendance in three successive Congresses, said that it never crossed his mind to join the minority just because he could not get a coveted post in the House.

"Pursuing the fight, knowing the certainty of losing, would be going against the decision of the PPC and would have the consequence of compelling me to join the ranks of the opposition," he explained.

He pointed out that he ran and won under the PPC and that the speakership is an entirely PPC affair, the coalition being the majority in the chamber.

"Joining the opposition would be a denial of the President’s appeal for unity and for us to stay in the majority," Del Mar added.

He said that during this critical time, PPC members should now cast aside their ambitions, stop all intramurals after the majority had spoken, and roll up their sleeves for the tough challenge ahead.

He contended that giving up the speakership fight does not mean that he or the other contenders would already be giving up their quest for new politics.

"We remain steadfast in our desire to help maintain the high regard of the people for the House that started with the historic impeachment process. This is a fight that will go on. We will help make the PPC and the House a potent force for reform," Del Mar vowed.

He thanked his colleagues who had supported him and believed in his ability to lead the House. He said that they made his short stab at the speakership more memorable and more gratifying.

Meanwhile, Reps. Rolando Andaya (Camarines Sur) and Ace Barbers (Surigao del Norte) said that warnings of a PPC disintegration once De Venecia is elected Speaker "exist only in the minds of critics."

The two members of the Spice Boys of the House pointed out that Del Mar and Sandoval have already expressed their support for De Venecia, who has kept a loyal following in the Lakas-NUCD.

"The PDP-Laban in the House led by Makati Rep. Teddy Boy Locsin is supporting De Venecia. (So are) the Nacionalista Party led by Doy Laurel and Raul Gonzales, a group of LDP congressmen led by Iloilo Rep. Augusto Syjuco," Andaya said.

Barbers added that while Batanes Rep. Florencio Abad remains persistent in his speakership bid, eight of Abad’s former 21 followers have already pledged their support for De Venecia.

He said that Padilla belongs to Laban, and his party is not a member of the PPC so Padilla’s opposition to De Venecia will not affect the cohesiveness of PPC.

LDP adopts Abad

The opposition LDP said it will field Abad as its candidate for speaker after the solon, who was deserted by his colleagues in a coalition of seven small political groups initially opposed to De Venecia, sought refuge under the banner of Senator-elect Edgardo Angara.

The Batanes congressman met with Angara and other LDP leaders Thursday night.

Angara gave his blessing to him and prevailed upon Deputy Speaker Carlos Padilla (LDP, Nueva Vizcaya) and outgoing Minority Leader Agapito Aquino (LDP, Makati) to give way to the Batanes lawmaker.

Padilla and Aquino, who is his party’s secretary general, were also eyeing the speakership.

Except for Padilla, Abad has been deserted by his colleagues in the anti-De Venecia coalition.

Sandoval and Del Mar told him they cannot join the minority and be opposed to the Arroyo administration.

The LP-LDP coalition will have more than 40 congressmen. Ranged against them are Lakas members numbering more than 70 and other De Venecia supporters, including those belonging to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Aksyon Demokratiko, Nacionalista Party, and Promdi.

NPC is the second biggest bloc after Lakas. It has more than 50 members.

If Abad loses the fight to De Venecia, he becomes the minority leader and head of the political opposition in the House. He was an administration supporter until he decided to oppose the Pangasinan congressman’s comeback bid.

About a month ago, Abad and Sandoval led the formation of the anti-De Venecia coalition.

Sandoval was forced to desert Abad after his Lakas followers were enticed with committee assignments to switch their support to De Venecia.

Among the first to jump ship was Juan Miguel Zubiri of Bukidnon, who will head the coveted committee on legislative franchise, which his father Jose, now governor of their province, chaired in the 10th Congress. The young Zubiri was among the vocal critics of the comebacking former Speaker.

Another Sandoval supporter, Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig-Pateros, has joined the swelling ranks of De Venecia supporters.

Sandoval has been offered the chairmanship of the House contingent in the Commission on Appointments. As head of the House team, he will automatically become vice chairman of the commission which, under the Constitution, is chaired by the Senate president.

The commission has the power of life or death over Cabinet appointments and major promotions in the military and the diplomatic service.

The chairmanship of the House contingent was first offered to Abad, but he wanted the offer to come from President Arroyo.

Sandoval’s son, Federico, who is representative of Navotas-Malabon, would most likely be named a vice chairman of the appropriations committee.

Like the Palawan congressman, Del Mar was forced to join De Venecia because the other elected Promdi member, Cebu City’s Antonio Cuenco, has cast his lot with the Pangasinan congressman’s group.

Before them, two members of Education Secretary Raul Roco’s Aksyon Demokratiko, including Willie Villarama of Bulacan, have joined De Venecia.

Even Abad’s own LP party mates have abandoned him. Maite Defensor of Quezon City, a sister of Housing Secretary Michael Defensor, is now with the former Speaker’s group. And so are the two Capiz congressmen who are protégés of Trade Secretary Mar Roxas.

Roxas and the housing czar are LP members and long-time friends of Abad.

The Abad-Padilla group and their remaining followers, faced with the prospect of certain defeat in the speakership race, have expressed their readiness to join the opposition.