Stung by ‘Gang of 5’ scandal, House now

The House apparently wants to discourage legislative inquiries in the wake of persistent reports about the alleged extortion activities of a group of congressmen known as the "Gang of 5."

Even before this group was exposed by the media last week, the House had voted to empower its committee on rules to screen resolutions seeking the conduct of investigations.

Under that decision, such resolutions would now be sent first to the rules panel headed by Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II which would recommend the appropriate committees such measures would be referred to.

The practice before was to send the resolutions in plenary session to the committees the authors of these measures wanted to conduct the inquiries they were seeking.

Thus, it was not remote that the author of a particular resolution would conspire with a committee chairman to extort money from a businessman or a private company the latter wanted to investigate.

To prevent this possibility, measures seeking inquiries are now routed through the rules panel which should determine the appropriate committee that would be tasked to conduct an investigation.

Through this process, the House also aims to avoid joint jurisdiction by two or more committees over the same subject matter.

The committee on rules, however, cannot really avoid overlapping jurisdiction since it does not have the power to sit on, kill or archive suspicious or superfluous resolutions.

Its job is merely that of a traffic policeman. It has to direct where a resolution would go. It cannot throw it into the wastebasket.

The controversial Terminal 3 project at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, for which Transportation and Communications Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez is getting flak, is a case in point.

Rep. Eduardo Veloso (NPC-Lakas, Leyte) had filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the project. Veloso wanted the measure sent to the transportation committee chaired by Rep. Jacinto Paras (Lakas, Negros Oriental).

But since the resolution alleges irregularities in the project, the House, upon the recommendation of the rules panel, sent it to the good government committee.

That prompted Veloso to file a second resolution. This time, the measure focuses more on the policy aspects of the project than on supposed irregularities.

The rules panel had no choice but to recommend that the second resolution be sent to the Paras committee, which conducted its initial hearing last week ahead of the good government committee.

Paras and Veloso, together with Representatives Prospero Pichay Jr. (Lakas, Surigao del Sur), Rolex Suplico of Iloilo and Aniceto Saludo of Southern Leyte, have been named as members of the "Gang of 5."

Saludo, for his part, got back at his accusers by saying their claims were nothing but "a dirty trick to prevent the truth from seeing the light of day."

"No less than House Majority Leader Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. and House Senior Deputy Leader Rep. Francis Escudero were in cahoots with the dirty tricks operators," Saludo told the Kapihan sa Sulo forum Saturday.

He said he could have been linked to alleged extortion activities to prevent him from pursuing an investigation into the final acquisition by a foreign-owned telephone company of a television and broadcasting network.

"Last August, I filed a resolution calling for an investigation of the deal. I did it because I firmly believe that it is in violation of the constitutional restriction on foreign ownership and management of mass media," Saludo said.

He added that he would go on record to expose members and leaders of the House of Representatives who are direct and indirect participants seeking to stop any investigation of abuses and violations of telecom companies.

The four other congressmen have also categorically denied that they are engaged in extortion activities.

Suplico has resigned from the opposition for delicadeza, and has asked the House ethics committee to investigate him.

Pichay has named Gonzales and Escudero as the source of the reports about the Gang of 5, accusing them of launching a campaign to smear him and his four colleagues.

The two House leaders have denied Pichay’s allegation. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe