JDV wins 184-17, Drilon by 13-11

No time for a honeymoon.

Re-elected Sen. Franklin Drilon regained the Senate presidency in yesterday’s closely contested voting, 13-11, that left the coalesced opposition threatening to forgo the usual honeymoon period and push to the hilt its role as government fiscalizer.

At the House of Representatives, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. recaptured the coveted seat by an overwhelming 184-17 vote over Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP)

Padilla automatically became the House minority leader.

The twin victories by the ruling People Power Coalition (PPC) legislators gave President Arroyo a crucial edge in ensuring swift passage of Malacañang-endorsed bills.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr. expressed disgust over alleged Malacañang-inspired maneuverings that caused him to lose to Drilon by two votes.

"Regrettable as it sounds, in politics, there are, indeed, no permanent friends, just permanent political interests," Pimentel remarked.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao side-stepped the accusation by urging the legislators to heed Mrs. Arroyo’s call for unity.

He maintained that Drilon won on his own merit and track record.

In a gentlemanly gesture, Drilon and Pimentel voted for each other, while the chamber deviated from the previous practice of voice vote and called for nominal voting, with each senator explaining his or her vote.

Neophyte Sen. Noli de Castro, who ran as independent in the May 14 polls but was identified with the opposition, cast the swing vote that gave the Senate presidency to Drilon.

De Castro said his vote did not mean he was joining the majority bloc.

Pimentel claimed some of his supporters had to withstand pressures from Malacañang officials and certain economic groups.

Until Sunday, the Pimentel camp remained optimistic that De Castro was with them for a 12-12 vote that would have allowed Pimentel to retain his seat as the third highest official of the land.

De Castro explained that he voted for Drilon after getting his assurance that he would initiate a healing process and restore public confidence in the national leadership.

"Unless seasonably rebuffed, this will inevitably impair the independence and integrity of the Senate," Pimentel added.

Drilon vowed to maintain the independence of the Senate, and identified priority areas of the chamber under his leadership.

Former speaker now Sen. Manuel Villar was unanimously elected as Senate president pro tempore, while, Sen. Loren Legarda made history with her election as the first female majority leader of the chamber.

Pro-administration Sen. Joker Arroyo noted that the election for the Senate president clearly drew the battle lines, but was in consonance with the people’s mandate in the last May 14 polls that gave the majority to the PPC.

In his acceptance speech, Drilon said the Senate would do its share to address the "daunting but not insurmountable" problems confronting the country.

"But let me emphasize that I do not intend to compromise the independence and integrity of the Senate, even as we extend the warm hand of cooperation to our partners in government," Drilon said.

He listed down some of his legislative priorities as: investments in scientific and technological education, enhancing peace and order and industrial peace, poverty alleviation, absentee voting and other electoral reforms.

He urged his colleagues to resist the "demons of fractiousness and discord in facing the hard work ahead."

"We can master these demons, and you and I can serve as exemplars of the kind of citizenry and the kind of nation we seek to foster," Drilon said.

Sen. Renato Cayetano, who forged a term-sharing accord with Drilon, said his colleague manifested his "independence of the highest order" by giving up the Senate presidency during the impeachment trial because he had to obey his conscience.

Under the agreement, Drilon and Cayetano will have a tenure of 18 months each for the entire duration of the 12th Congress.

Pimentel’s camp charged that the President meddled in the election for the Senate president by airing her preference for Drilon, and calling on all pro-administration senators to rally behind him.

It was ironic, however, that re-elected Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, a member of the PPC, voted for Pimentel, while his first cousin, Sen. John Osmeña who was closely identified with the opposition, voted for Drilon.

Opposition Sen. Ramon Revilla voted for Drilon while his son-in-law Sen. Robert Jaworski, went for Pimentel.

Sen. Ralph Recto, another newcomer, was rebuked for saying that Pimentel, a veteran politician, was merely being used by the opposition which could not get the majority.

"We should think first before we speak," Sen. Vicente Sotto III said, reacting to Recto’s remarks.

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr., along with Revilla and Legarda, admitted making the "agonizing decision" of choosing Drilon.

While Pimentel rued over his loss, he expressed satisfaction about his performance as Senate president during the most crucial times in the country’s political history, particularly in presiding over the impeachment trial of then President Joseph Estrada.

"Of the ecstasy that filled my tenure as Senate president, I would say that seeing the Senate discharge its legislative functions despite the consuming demands of the impeachment trial with independence unimpaired, our integrity unsullied and with our dignity intact, was fulfillment in the extreme for me," Pimentel said as he stepped down.

JdV eyes P530-billion "cheap" foreign funds

Addressing his colleagues right after his election, De Venecia said he aims to tap $10 billion (P530 billion) in "cheap foreign funds for the government’s anti-poverty program.

In characteristic fashion, De Venecia set lofty goals for the chamber he now leads for the third time since 1992, including unlocking official development assistance (ODA) funds, building 250,000 houses for the poor annually, planting one billion trees a year, and attaining an unprecedented economic growth of seven percent annually over the next seven years.

De Venecia said the country has access to about $10 billion in ODA funds from Japan and Europe.

"This huge pool of funds is untapped and unutilized because the President and Congress have failed all these years to provide the 25 percent counterpart funds of $2.5 billion or P125 billion," he said.

The Speaker said within his three-year term, Congress should provide this counterpart fund to get the $10 billion and thus provide the new government a total of $12.5 billion or P625 billion (roughly the size of the 2000 national budget)."

He stressed that the government can raise the counterpart of P125 billion through improved tax collection without imposing new taxes, and the final resolution of the ownership question on the P100 billion coconut levy funds and the $650 million Marcos Swiss deposits.

De Venecia told his colleagues that before they can appropriate the counterpart to ODA funds, Congress would first have to wipe out the annual budget deficit which is projected to soar to P130 billion this year before falling to P80 billion next year and P50 billion in 2004.

"We should aim for a balanced budget and a surplus by the time our term ends (in 2004) as our best gift to the nation," he said.

Opposition to fire "guns of August"

Former Senate President Pro Tempore Blas Ople said the opposition bloc will unleash what he called the "guns of August" on the Arroyo administration, consisting of a series of privilege speeches and exposés on corruption in government.

For his part, LDP leader Sen. Edgardo Angara is poised to deliver his own version of state of the nation address (SONA).

Pimentel was expected to tackle alleged irregularities divulged by resigned Palace official Bing Rodrigo concerning payola from a communication franchise deal involving First Gentleman Mike Arroyo.

Ople said he would delve on "Rape of the Constitution" through the military-police crackdown in Basilan, Sulu and Metro Manila.

Another opposition senator who was not immediately identified would deliver a privilege speech on the IMPSA contract where presidential aides allegedly pocketed $14 million.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief, threatened to unwrap alleged fraudulent contracts under the military’s modernization program, while Sen. Gregorio Honasan will discuss the "sad state" of the military.

Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta will recite a litany of failures of the education system in the country, while Sen. Luisa Ejercito-Estrada will talk about major faults in the health policies.

"In exchange for the self-indulgence of picking the Senate president, she (Mrs. Arroyo) may have succeeded in mobilizing a whole artillery division of the opposition against her administration. The big guns are now in place, raring to blast away at the excesses and abuses of the government. Watch out," Ople said.

He said by interfering in the affairs of the Senate, Mrs. Arroyo subverted the independence of the chamber.

"From a strategic perspective, she should have entered into a covenant of cooperation with the Senate based on mutual respect. We have offered such bilateral friendship which she has apparently rejected," Ople noted.

"This leaves us no choice but to exercise an aggressive fiscalizing role," he stressed. — With reports from Aurea Calica