he allies of Gloria Arroyo
should get their act together on the reported plan of former Speaker Jose de
Venecia and his wife Gina before the Senate inquiry into the NBN-ZTE deal.
Sen. Joker Arroyo said if De Venecia testifies his appearance
would only be seen as sourgraping after he was ousted as Speaker by Gloria’s
loyalists in the House. Presidential counsel Sergio Apostol, on the other hand,
said De Venecia would be a credible witness as he expressed confidence De
Venecia would not make any statement that would damage the administration and
the party in power of which he was co-founder.
Everybody is entitled to his opinion, but why don’t we let De
Venecia speak out first on what he knows about the frustrated raid on the
Treasury allegedly orchestrated by disgraced former Election chair Benjamin
Abalos, with the assist of Mike Arroyo and full blessing of Gloria.
After De Venecia has said his piece then that’s the time the
Senate probers and the public can start assessing whether he is telling the
truth and nothing but.
Sourgraping? It’s too mild a word to describe a possible
all-out offensive from one who has been treated like a dish rag by the
administration. It will be pure vengeance. De Venecia was ousted because of his
support for his son, Joey, in exposing the attempt to burden the people with a
$329 million debt for a project which by his estimate would cost at most $130
million.
Whether De Venecia would do it in the face of a threatened
retaliation on his supporters in the administration coalition remains to be
seen. As things now stand, one can count De Venecia’s supporters in Lakas with
the fingers of one hand and probably have a few digits to spare. The way we look
at it, De Venecia has nothing to lose by coming clean. He has everything to gain
– redeeming himself as a statesman - after a lifetime of suffering from the
image of being the quintessential "trapo."
Needless to say De Venecia has a lot of convincing to do to
regain his credibility. More than any official in the Arroyo administration he
was responsible for laying the ground for China’s wide and deep diplomatic and
economic inroads into the country. When Gloria was still clutching at the
coattails of "her" ally George Bush, De Venecia was already deftly playing the
China card.
Remember the pioneering NorthRail deal? Credit should go to
Venecia for that (let’s leave aside talks at the time the deal was struck that
he handsomely personally benefitted from it). The controversial joint Spratlys
oil exploration deal was also his baby.
Joe was a key player who knows where the skeletons are buried. His testimony
would complete the picture we now have of the NBN-ZTE deal.
