NP to field bet for Speaker
By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star) Updated February 16, 2010 12:00 AM
|
| |
MANILA, Philippines - Nacionalista Party (NP) president and standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. said the
party will nominate its own candidate for House speaker in the next Congress to challenge President Arroyo,
in case she is elected congresswoman and aspires for the speakership.
“The (Nacionalista) Party would choose its speaker and hindi naman miembro ng party namin si Presidente
(and the President is not a member of our party),” Villar told The STAR editors and columnists gathered for
the start of the paper’s presidential series yesterday. “I am not saying that we are going to win. I am just
saying that we are going to nominate (a speaker).”
Villar has rebuilt the NP from scratch and steered it to its status as one of the most formidable political
parties in the country today, boasting of hundreds of local leaders in its roster.
The NP has been aggressive in raiding other political parties and in recruiting more members. Since last
year, Villar has been swearing in new members to the NP’s fold.
Villar again defended the NP and himself from accusations that he has struck an unholy alliance with Mrs.
Arroyo.
“In the field, Lakas and Nacionalista are hitting each other. On Dec.1, many wanted to join us but the
President stopped them,” Villar said.
He stressed that he has not seen or spoken to the First Couple since his ouster as Senate president in
November 2008.
If elected president, Villar said he would respect the independence of the three branches of government but
stressed the importance of having a competent leader in every aspect of governance.
“That’s why I have been emphasizing the word leadership, and it’s very important that the next president will
have leadership,” Villar added.
In a separate interview over the weekend in Hong Kong, Villar said a president can exert great influence in
the election of Speaker despite the independence of the legislature.
“Normally, the Speaker is elected by all members of the House of Representatives,” he said, but added that
the president will certainly have a say on the matter when the party is involved.
‘Premature’
The talk about President Arroyo becoming Speaker of the incoming House of Representatives is
“premature,” Speaker Prospero Nograles said.
“I do not know where that is coming from. It’s so premature,” he said in a text message.
“We do not know the composition of the dominant majority party until the elections are finished and the
winners are proclaimed,” he added.
Nograles, who is running for mayor of Davao City, was reacting to a statement made by his Lakas-Kampi
colleague Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela that the ruling party would most likely field Mrs. Arroyo for
Speaker.
The President is running for representative of Pampanga’s second district.
Albano said Lakas-Kampi, which the President heads, would still be the dominant political group in the next
Congress.
Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga’s third district agreed with Albano.
“There are more than 100 of us administration allies who are seeking congressional seats or are running
for reelection. We certainly will support her,” he said.
“Those of us House members who come from Pampanga will support and campaign for PGMA if she runs
for Speaker. She has always addressed our constituents’ concerns,” he said.
No party stand
In Angeles City, coalition vice president for policy Rep. Rodolfo Antonino denied there was an organized
scheme to make Mrs. Arroyo Speaker in the next Congress.
“I am not aware of party members meeting and deciding on that,” Antonino told The STAR in a telephone
interview. He said Albano is not a party spokesman.
He said that while the dominant political party usually has the advantage in the battle for the speaker’s post,
a president’s influence has historically played a big role in the choice for speaker.
There are more than 100 Lakas-Kampi congressmen who are seeking reelection. There are also several
Cabinet members who are seeking House seats.
“PGMA (Mrs. Arroyo) will win as Speaker hands down. She continues to wield power and influence. So if her
detractors think they’ve seen the last of her, they are mistaken. She’ll be around longer than they think,”
Agusan del Norte Rep. Jose Aquino said earlier.
Presidential son Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo is said to be one of the nominees of the accredited party-list
Galing Pinoy. Outgoing mayors Buddy Dungca of Bacolor and Dennis Pineda of Lubao, both in Pampanga,
are also reportedly among Galing Pinoy’s nominees.
“It has been a nagging report in my district but we have remained in limbo on whether it’s true,” said Adonis
Simpao, the Liberal Party’s congressional candidate against Mrs. Arroyo in the second district of Pampanga.
Not excited
President Arroyo is not excited about the prospect of becoming Speaker but she will not stop her allies in
Congress from pushing for it.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the President has remained silent on her political plans and would
rather focus on building on her legacy now that her term is about to end.
“Right now the President does not talk about her future political plans. What I know is that since our previous
talks, she is focusing on her governance,” Ermita said. “She does not want to talk about these things,”
Ermita said.
He said the President has no time to talk about her political plans especially now that she is on a tour of the
“Super Regions” across the nation.
“This is what excites the Palace and this is what excites the President and she will remain focused on this
up to the very end of her term,” Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said.
Olivar said Mrs. Arroyo has nothing to do with her allies’ desire to see her assume the speakership in the
next Congress.
He said they are “understandably impressed by her record and her potential for leadership.”
“We cannot prevent these people,” he said. “Why should we prevent those who want to support the
President? You know, everyone is free to air his own views,” Olivar said.
“We understand the admiration and the support that they wish to extend. There are voices for her, there are
voices against her. In the meantime, she is focused on her responsibilities,” he added.
Ermita said there was nothing new about speculations on the president’s bid for a seat in Congress.
“From the very beginning, every time we talk about this issue, they always throw that same issue at the
President - why she thought of running. But these are personal decisions of a person like the President so
she has her own plans,” Ermita said.
“But as I said, I cannot elucidate further. Between us, we never even talk about this. From the very beginning
we never had a chance to talk about her political plans,” he added.
No way
The Liberal Party, meanwhile, vowed to block efforts by Mrs. Arroyo’s House allies to make her speaker.
LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad said the Lakas-Kampi people “are dreaming” if they think
Mrs. Arroyo and her allies at the House could easily win in May.
“Before even thinking about the speakership, they should worry about winning the presidency first, unless
they are thinking of another candidate,” he said.
“It is the height of naiveté to think that any legislator can aspire for the speakership without getting the
support of the sitting president. Historically, there is no way that can happen,” Abad said.
“The power of the presidency is awesome. The Lakas-Kampi seem to have forgotten recent history: a party
in power may have all the local government officials under its wings, but that doesn’t guarantee the party
victory in the national elections,” Abad said.
“Remember the victory of (former) President Fidel Ramos over the LDP (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino)
machinery, (former President Joseph) Erap Estrada over Lakas and recently the opposition rout of the Lakas-
Kampi in the 2007 senatorial fight,” Abad said.
“With the race down to a two-person contest, the Arroyo-controlled Lakas-Kampi may be betting on another
horse,” Abad said.
LP spokesman and Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada also said it was too presumptuous of Lakas-Kampi to
assume that Mrs. Arroyo would be speaker without even knowing yet how many of its allies would win in their
respective districts.
“Yes, they may have more candidates in the legislative districts but it does not translate to automatic victory
as House speaker,” Tañada said.
“President Arroyo may be installed as speaker in a Villar administration,” Tañada said.
Simpao, LP’s official candidate in Pampanga’s second district, said the President’s allies should not be very
confident of her election victory because the Kapampangan would vote for the true Kapampangan and not for
someone who did not grow up in the province.
|
|
