"For lack of any accomplishment or impressive legislative experience to speak of, Velasco has resorted to this tactic."
"For lack of any accomplishment or impressive legislative experience to speak of, Velasco has resorted to this tactic."
In our latest Saturday Forum@Annabel’s, we had as resource persons House Majority Leader Fredenil Castro and two members of the Makabayan bloc, Bayan Muna Party-List Representatives Carlos Zarate and Ferdinand Gaite, who gave updates on what’s going on in the Lower Chamber of Congress, particularly with regard to the Speakership and what to expect in the 18th Congress that starts on July 22 with the President’s State of the Nation Address (SONA). The Makabayan bloc has fielded Zarate as a candidate for Speaker more as a political statement than a serious bid given the prevailing balance of forces in the institution.
Castro revealed that he supports the candidacy of Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez as House Speaker. He said the battle for the Speakership is now just between Romualdez and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco, who was recently endorsed by the ruling party, PDP-Laban, according to the official pronouncement of Senator Manny Pacquiao, who claimed that no less than 200 out of 300 or so House members would vote for Velasco.
Castro, however, seriously doubts that Velasco would be able to muster the support of 200 House members, and believes that Romualdez would clinch the post considering his personality, qualifications and consensus-building ability.
Nevertheless, Velasco continues to drum up publicity for his Speakership bid by claiming to have sponsored, coordinated or organized this or that event for President Duterte, even though other people have actually done the part that he claims to own. His stunts are to make people believe that President Duterte trusts him to accomplish the task of being an event organizer, as if this was enough qualification for him to bag the Speakership in the 18th Congress.
For lack of any accomplishment or impressive legislative experience to speak of, Velasco has resorted to this tactic. He has no qualms portraying himself as a close “friend” of presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, or volunteering to organize birthday gatherings for President Duterte. His familiarity with the Dutertes appears to be his only ticket to the Speakership.
But Velasco has one thing going for him: his connection to a prominent businessman. The connection is through Velasco’s wife who is closely associated with the businessman, who has vast investments not only in the food and beverage and energy sector, but also in infrastructure, cement and information technology, to name a few.
It appears that the businessman needs strong political connections to protect his extensive business interests. He has adequately prepared for this by funding a major political party. It is in the businessman’s best interests to ensure that this party remains a constant political presence in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Thus, gaining control of the House, where all revenue measures emanate, would be to his advantage.
In the 17th Congress, Velasco was the chair of the House committee on energy. While Velasco did not accomplish much as chairman of the committee, he was able to stand guard against any adverse developments that would imperil the businessman’s interests in the power sector.
Imagine how much more Velasco could do for the business magnate if he is elected Speaker. Being the power behind the Speaker is the best way for the businessman to gain some sort of control over the chamber and its 300 or so members.
The big businessman is said to be more than willing to invest money to ensure that his chosen one bags the Speakership. What’s a few millions compared to the hundreds of billions of pesos in business interests he wants to protect? Since the businessman has no close ties with Romualdez or Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, the two other candidates for the Speakership, he can’t approach them and offer his support. His only close association is with Velasco, the most ambitious yet least qualified of the three.
Observers believe that should Velasco succeed in his bid to become Speaker, the real power behind the throne would be the businessman who backs his candidacy. In that case, we would have a branch of government that’s supposed to be independent and a vital cog in the checks-and-balances mechanism of our democratic system of government effectively captured by vested interests. This is unacceptable.
House Majority Leader Fred Castro’s prediction that the majority of House members would ultimately choose Romualdez rather than Velasco as Speaker seems the more likely possibility. In other words, at this point it’s all over but the shouting in so far as the House Speakership is concerned.