BY WENDELL VIGILIA
NEWLY installed House Speaker Prospero
Nograles yesterday vowed Congress would remain independent from
Malacañang as he said he does not owe to the Arroyos his
position in Congress.
"We took a vote. The Arroyos (Rep. Mikey
Arroyo of Pampanga, his brother Dato of Camarines Sur and their
uncle Ignacio of Negros Occidental) have only three votes,"
Nograles said after taking his oath from Rep. Pablo Garcia (Kampi,
Cebu) at about 1:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Nograles, chairman of the 12-man House
contingent to the Commission on Appointments and majority leader
in the previous 13th Congress, said "we (Congress and Malacañang)
have always maintained the separation of powers."
Nograles also denied claims that money from
Malacañang catapulted him to power.
An administration congressman has said that
those who signed the manifesto of no-confidence on Jose de
Venecia Jr. were rewarded P1 million in cash and another P10
million worth of Special Road Support Fund sourced from the road
user’s tax.
He said this took place during the meeting of
the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) at the La Vista,
Quezon city residence of Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo Sunday
night.
Nograles said democracy was exercised during
the plenary voting Monday night.
In his acceptance speech, Nograles appealed
to his colleagues to "respect the vote we’ve taken today."
He said the "controversial" issues should be
discussed "at the proper time, not here, not now."
"Now that the issue is probably settled, it’s
time to get back to work," Nograles said with his wife Rhodora
and children beside him.
The new speaker thanked all congressmen,
especially De Venecia, for nominating him and giving him their
confidence. "It’s God’s will. Maybe it’s my destiny."
Nograles vowed to restore accountability in
the House.
"The number one complaint of congressmen is
the lack of transparency in the use of House funds and I will
make sure that this will change," he said.
A "transition group" is being formed to
facilitate a smooth transfer of power, Nograles said, adding
there would be minor changes in the committee chairmanships.
De Venecia, in an interview, said going back
to being an ordinary congressman has given him a needed break.
"I’m very relieved. I’m freed from anxieties,
worries," he said as he recalled how hard it was to do a
balancing act as leader of the chamber.
De Venecia backtracked on his threat to join
the opposition, saying he is still the president of the ruling
party Lakas-CMD. "I serve at the will of the members."
The five-time Speaker has said that if need
be, he would join the opposition in exposing the shenanigans in
the Arroyo government but would also side with the
administration whenever he feels it is justified.
"I don’t want to make statements that would
be unfair to the President," he said when asked to shed light on
his claim that he has the goods on the massive cheating in 2004.
"When the time comes, we’ll share this with
the public," he said.
De Venecia, in a privilege speech before the
nominal voting Monday night, accused the President and her
family of being involved in irregularities.
FAILURE OF LEADERSHIP
Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez
said the political wrangling at the House stemmed from De
Venecia’s "failure of leadership."
"We wonder why he would move his argument to
the President when in fact he is having problems with his
colleagues…Why all the bickering now when members of his flock
were starting to lose his trust and confidence?" he added.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said he
believes that Nograles would be listening to the sentiments of
the House members, including the call for reforms of some
first-time congressmen.
He said it is now time to move on and observe
a "cooling off period" to give everyone time to digest and
accept what happened.
Bunye said De Venecia and Arroyo might eventually talk and
meet in the future but that would have to wait. – With
Jocelyn Montemayor