Congress pork barrel to land in FG’s hands

GOTCHA, Published in The Philippine Star, Monday, February 4, 2008

Diverse self-interests of the plotters intertwine to depose Speaker Jose de Venecia today. There’s the ambition of wannabe substitute Rep. Prospero Nograles to seize the fourth highest office in the land. There’s the expansion by Kampi leaders Interior Sec. Ronnie Puno and Rep. Luis Villafuerte of the party’s influence preparatory to the 2010 polls. And there’s the revenge of the Arroyos — Reps. Mikey and Dato, sons of President Gloria Arroyo, and Rep. Iggy, her brother-in-law — for de Venecia’s son Joey’s linking of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo to the ZTE bribery.

Support for either the plotters or de Venecia will depend on another abiding interest: the pork barrel. It is that primary source of income — and sleaze — in Congress that will impel congressmen to go along with or resist de Venecia’s ouster.

Congressmen spend millions of pesos running for office in order to get their hands on the P70-million yearly pork each. They may intone lofty aims for the money and pretend to not have any control over its spending, but they make kickbacks from it. That is why it is paramount whether the head of the House of Reps can get the loot released smoothly to them from the budget office. And because the budget office is under the executive, the President’s endorsement is crucial in their selection.

From de Venecia’s Thursday meeting with Mrs. Arroyo came news that the latter was backing the former. Word was that the President would tell the three Arroyo congressmen to steer clear of the ouster moves. De Venecia intimated that Mrs. Arroyo prefers status quo. All he had to do to keep his post was prevent Joey from further talking about the $200-million overpricing in the $330-million ZTE contract.

That set congressmen thinking of their pork — and vacillating over their choice of Speaker. De Venecia’s close allies, like Rep. Amelia Villarosa, agonized the most. De Venecia had created a fourth Deputy Speakership just for her. The position soon brought her to higher position in Kampi and closeness to Mrs. Arroyo as favorite traveling companion. Villarosa was reported to have signed a Kampi-led resolution of no confidence in de Venecia. But the latter said she has called him thrice to convey support. If de Venecia remains as Speaker, he naturally would replace all House officers and committee chairmen who went against him. Priority of pork releases would change.

Last weekend Villafuerte said Mrs. Arroyo had given no order to her congressmen-kin to stand down. On cue Rep. Mikey twitted de Venecia for “hiding under the skirt” of his mom the President. They claimed that all members of Kampi, Liberal Party and Nationalist People’s Coalition, plus half party-list reps would vote for Nograles. Supposedly 134 of them had signed the anti-de Venecia resolution, well above the 121 needed to elect a new Speaker.

The joke may be on them. It’s one thing to dislike de Venecia; it’s another to replace him with a proxy of the Arroyos. From the start Nograles had banked on the three congressmen for his Speakership dream. Only they know what the quid pro quo is. But it’s safe to assume that it has to do with pork — the language of congressmen.

The annual House pork is all of P16.73 billion for 239 congressmen. With Nograles as surrogate Speaker, control over that amount would land in the hands of the Arroyos — including First Gentleman Mike. That would make their family truly the most powerful in the land — with Mrs. Arroyo in charge of the executive and the other Arroyos lording over the House.

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Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez acted swiftly on the reported P14-million secret wealth of a former Pasay City treasurer. The anti-graft chief has suspended from office Ofelia Oliva, who was serving as city treasurer of Calamba. The six-month forced leave came only days after I cited Oliva as example of how lifestyle checks on officials can net potential grafters.

Superiors had pried into Oliva’s accumulated assets since she joined the government two decades ago. Unearthing real estate, cars, frequent travels and house rentals she cannot afford on a modest government pay, they sought her removal. The suspension is to prevent Oliva from using her position to deter a case buildup. Gutierrez gave her ten days to contest it.

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To the pseudonymous e-mailer who has been sending veiled threats as feedback to my column on The STAR Internet Edition:

If your aim is to scare me, it’s not working, although you do upset some readers.

You e-mail threats whenever I write about the national broadband scam. That means you’re doing it on behalf of the powerful officials who were exposed as $200-million kickbackers. In effect, you’ve put them on record as the culprits if something does happen to me.