Senate revamp looms to railroad Transco franchise

With 72 hours left on the clock, President Arroyo’s allies are allegedly preparing to unleash a "full-court press" in the Senate today and spark a reorganization to ensure the passage of a bill granting a franchise to the National Transmission Corp. (Transco), sources said yesterday.

Apparently intent on having the Transco franchise and a bill on special asset vehicles (SPAVs) passed before Congress ends its regular session on Wednesday, the sources said the President’s allies are even "willing to trade horses with the opposition."

In exchange for ensuring the passage of the measure, they are allegedly willing to "give" the chairmanships of powerful Senate committees to unidentified opposition senators, the sources added.

However, the sources did not specify which committees would be "turned over" to the opposition or who among the senators would be affected.

The sources said the President’s allies were willing to strike a compromise because they could not be assured that all administration senators would "toe the line" for the speedy passage of the two measures.

The President allegedly called a special caucus at her ancestral home at Forbes Park in Makati City on May 26 to stress to administration senators the need to pass the two measures, the sources said.

But there is a worry that some administration senators would want to scrutinize the proposed bills further, which means the measures can’t be passed by Wednesday.

The debates on the SPAV, for instance, indicated that several senators might support certain provisions that would favor borrowers, to the detriment of some big banks and financial institutions.

In the case of the Transco franchise, some senators are demanding to see too many documents, endangering the passage of the measure, the sources added.

According to the secretariat of the Senate committee on public services and franchises, the Transco franchise bill can be calendared for deliberations when it receives the House bill.

But the House has yet to pass the Transco franchise although it has already "railroaded" its version of the SPAV bill.

Likewise, the franchise of Manila Electric Co., already approved by the House, cannot be acted upon by the Senate franchise committee because Meralco, which will supposedly benefit from the Senate revamp, has not submitted documents required by the committee.

About six senators are also supposedly gearing to filibuster against the measures, stoking fears the bills may not make it through before Wednesday, the sources added.

There are currently 13 majority senators and 11 opposition senators but administration Sen. Ramon Revilla cannot participate in the deliberations because he is still recuperating in California after undergoing spine surgery.

With Revilla’s absence, the configuration would be 12-11 and it would only take one majority senator to jump ship and create a new majority in the Senate, the sources stressed.

The sources said the plan to reorganize the Senate would only be a pre-emptive move to oust administration senators refusing to cooperate.

To keep the measures on track, the sources said, the President’s allies supposedly agreed to give some key committee chairmanships to the opposition on condition that incumbent Senate President Franklin Drilon retains his post.

Also, the "horse trading" would supposedly give the "right impression" because a semblance of bipartisanship would be imparted, nipping speculations that the bills’ passage were spurred by vested interests.

If the measures fail to pass, Mrs. Arroyo may also call a special session to pass the two measures after "uncooperative senators" have been sidelined.