Lakas puts pressure on Kampi

After weeks of silence, the ruling Lakas—Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas — CMD) moved yesterday to cut the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) down to size and challenged the upstart party to disclose its much-vaunted membership.

The leadership of the House of Representatives issued a memorandum asking each of the chamber’s 236 members to declare his or her party affiliation for record purposes.

The order, ostensibly to facilitate the reorganization of the chamber, would force representatives identified with both Lakas and Kampi to make a choice between the two discordant administration parties.

The move came on the heels of an announcement from Kampi and the Liberal Party (LP), which have forged a coalition, that Lakas "conceded" to them the leadership of 26 choice committees on the strength of their combined membership, which they claim accounts for at least 37 percent of the House.

House majority leader Prospero Nograles (Davao City) dismissed the group’s claim as "inaccurate."

"The last time I checked, those being identified as members of the LP-Kampi who were named for several committee chairmanships actually belong to Lakas," he said.

Lakas — CMD has at least 80 members. Kampi claims to have 52 members, while the LP claims to have 32 members.

House Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul del Mar (Cebu) clarified that Speaker Jose de Venecia has the final word on the committee leadership.

Another Lakas stalwart, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said the Kampi—LP bloc had been pressuring De Venecia to award them the leadership of committees of their choice.

He said Kampi had been claiming for several weeks to be the new majority bloc, especially after its coalition with the LP, but could not list its members.

Barbers said the reorganization of the House was being held up by the refusal of the coalition to identify its members.

"Are we negotiating with a ghost party? A specter?" he said. "Up to now they cannot come up with names."

Sources close to De Venecia said the Kampi — LP coalition cannot claim the powerful Ways and Means committee as it had already been promised to Tarlac Rep. Jesli Lapus of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

The NPC and Lakas renewed their longstanding alliance at the opening of the 13th Congress.

President Arroyo reportedly invited Lapus to the Legislative—Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac) meetings in Malacañang as a sign of her high regard for Lapus.

Several neophyte administration lawmakers have expressed their support for the House memorandum and criticized the Kampi—LP maneuverings as meant to project "the illusion that they are big" to win concessions from the House leadership.

In a press conference at the Batasan complex, representatives Angel Amante (Agusan del Norte), Benjamin Abalos (Mandaluyong City) and Alfredo Maranon III (Negros Occidental) appealed for an end to the infighting over the committee leaderships.

"No party can claim to have the monopoly on helping the President and her programs," Amante said. "We all can serve our people whether we are chairmen or just an ordinary congresswoman."

Maranon praised De Venecia for accommodating all parties despite having the prerogative to name the committee chairs.