HOUSE Speaker Jose de Venecia yesterday said he and President Arroyo are "crafting a joint vision" that would give the President a "strong finish" up to 2010.

"We cannot continue to just curse and curse the darkness. Investigation here, investigation there. Bribery here, bribery there. Wrongdoing here, wrongdoing there. What we should do is craft a (moral) vision for the country," De Venecia said in an interview in Malacañang.

He said the joint vision, which included a Cabinet revamp, is needed to sustain the country’s economic gains.

He said Arroyo should use her powers to revamp the executive department and put together a strong legislative and executive partnership together with the local governments units, civil society, the military and police, and the judiciary. He said former president Fidel Ramos strongly supports the joint vision.

The Speaker said Arroyo is also open to his ideas, but he was quick to deny that he is pressuring the President into accepting his terms.

He said his relationship with President Arroyo is still intact. "We’re friends. I wouldn’t be here if we’re not friends," he added.

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the President "welcome(s) the constructive suggestions of the Speaker."

"The President clearly knows what needs to be done but she also can use a lot of help from all stakeholders."

The Speaker suggested the revamp of the Bureau of Customs, the PNP and the AFP, the regulatory agencies supervising air transport, energy, telecommunications, and the port authority.

He also wants heads to roll in government-owned and controlled corporations, particularly "officials whose reputations have been impugned by malfeasance and scandal."

De Venecia proposed that the President create a Council on Moral Reform and National Renewal which he said would advise her on top-level personnel changes and policy reforms, provide her with an assessment of critical national problems and rally mass support for the measures she has already put in place.

He said this should be made up of "eminent personalities representing as far as possible the nation’s full range of interests: business, professional and labor sector; institutional, charismatic and evangelical churches; NGOs and people’s organizations; ethnic and cultural communities; youth and student movement."

The Speaker also called for a sharp increase in the budget of the Ombudsman and the judiciary; more effective up revenue measures in the BIR and BOC; installing an "unimpeachable" chair of the Commission on Elections; automating the elections; and strictly enforcing sanctions for vote-buying, bribery, over-spending and other illegal electoral practices. – Regina Bengco and Wendell Vigilia