Mad scramble on for key House posts

To the victors belong the spoils. A mad scramble for key positions is taking place in the House of Representatives among allies of newly elected Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Amid the intense jockeying, Arroyo has told members of her new majority to buckle down to work.

“She has asked us to hit the ground running, to attend to what needs to be done to push her and President Duterte’s legislative agenda,” 1-Pacman Rep. Michael Romero said yesterday.

He said the former president has asked House committees to continue working despite apprehensions from some chairmen that they might soon be replaced.

Romero, an assistant majority leader, is a provincemate of Arroyo, who represents Pampanga’s second district.

Another provincemate, third district Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr., a deputy majority leader, said the new Speaker has opted for the status quo in committee assignments in the meantime.

So far, only the position of Speaker has been filled. Except Monday night after the President’s State of the Nation Address when she shouted her gratitude to her allies after her election, the former president has not ascended the Speaker’s podium or presided over the session.

It was Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr., a deputy speaker, who served as presiding officer this week, while another deputy speaker, Fredenil Castro of Capiz, temporarily took over the majority leader’s job. Sources close to Arroyo told

The STAR that she has been meeting with her supporters on how to speed up legislative work and on the chamber’s impending reorganization.

The expected revamp is apparently proving to be difficult for the new leadership. All scheduled committee meetings were abruptly cancelled on Wednesday morning, though in the afternoon, Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, who is housing and urban development committee chairman, told reporters that committees had been ordered to resume working.

Up for grabs are the key positions of majority leader and some of the most important committees in the House.

The majority leader chairs the committee on rules. He acts as traffic policeman of all measures introduced by his colleagues. With the clearance of the Speaker, he determines what goes into the daily order of business of the House. He also shepherds plenary proceedings.

That critical position is a tossup between Andaya and Castro, although other lawmakers are lusting for it.

Arroyo reportedly prefers Andaya for the job. Andaya had served as her budget secretary.

Castro told reporters on Wednesday that if his fellow deputy speaker gets the position, he would not contest it.

However, he said a win-win solution would be for the two of them to have a term sharing during the remaining 11 months of the 17th Congress.

At least four key committee chairmen are expected to lose their posts for either not voting for Arroyo or sticking it out with ousted speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.

They are Reynaldo Umali of Mindoro Oriental, committee on justice; Johnny Pimentel of Surigao del Sur, good government; Dakila Cua of Quirino, ways and means; and Roger Mercado of Leyte, constitutional amendments.

Cua’s committee conducted a hearing on Tuesday on pending administration tax proposals, but he let his presumptive successor, Joey Salceda of Albay, who is his senior vice chairman, preside over the proceedings.

Other Arroyo allies are eyeing committees that would not be vacated. A Lakas loyalist of hers from Mindanao is reportedly interested in the committee on accounts, which manages House funds.

Batangas Rep. Elenita Milagros Buhain, whose father Eduardo Ermita served as executive secretary of the former president during her Malacañang days, chairs the committee.

Romero, who led a huge bloc of party-list representatives in voting for Arroyo, said his group is not eyeing any committee post.

“We just want to help her in crafting and passing meaningful legislation,” he said.

Palace accepts Arroyo

Even as some lawmakers continue to question Arroyo’s rise to the Speaker’s post, President Duterte is convinced she would be of great help to his administration “because she is an economist.”

In remarks at the founding anniversary yesterday of the town of Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay, Duterte said Arroyo discussed inflation with him some two weeks ago over the phone.

His spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said they are confident her leadership will advance the administration’s legislative agenda – including its push for federalism.

“The Palace is eager and ready to work with the new House leadership as we are confident that Speaker Arroyo would put her considerable skills and experience behind PRRD’s agenda,” he said, referring to Duterte by his initials.

“And of course as former president for nine years, she has all the credentials necessary or needed to be an effective Speaker. And we welcome the fact that Speaker Arroyo has said that her topmost priority like the President is that of Charter change,” Roque said, while thanking Pantaleon Alvarez for his “invaluable service” to Congress and to the nation.

“We look forward to Speaker Arroyo’s successful leadership in Congress, and through that, pushing the President’s priority legislation in the Lower House,” he said.

Roque also downplayed the rift among the President’s House allies who are now fighting over positions in the chamber. “Together, let us roll up our sleeves and start our work in bringing comfortable life for all Filipinos,” he said.

Intact

The ruling PDP-Laban was distracted by the tumultuous leadership change in the House of Representatives but remains intact amid reports of possible desertion, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said yesterday.

Pimentel, president of PDPLaban, said the party was in the process of coming up with a 12-member senatorial slate for next year’s midterm elections when Alvarez, PDP-Laban secretary- general was ousted by party member Arroyo.

Meanwhile, a research organization devoted to women’s cause said Arroyo’s being labeled the first female speaker is not a victory for women.

“The title instead is an affront, not an achievement,” said Center for Women Resources executive director Jojo Guan.

“She has never pushed forward the interest of women, and she never will. Her record of pro-foreign capitalist policies, human-rights violations, massive cheating and corruption as president clearly indicates her disregard to push forward the agenda of the marginalized,” Guan said, adding that the public should be reminded of Arroyo’s scandals and crimes.

The group said even though Arroyo has been cleared by the Supreme Court for the case of plunder, her record as president has been linked to many other cases: NBN-ZTE deal, fertilizer fund scam, presidential elections cheating or the “Hello, Garci” scandal, Ampatuan massacre, 205 enforced disappearances, 1,190 extrajudicial killings, 104 media killings and 1,028 torture cases. “With all of these cases, she has never been prosecuted,” she said.