House leaders turn to GMA

Leaders of the House of Representatives, admitting that they have been demonized in the controversy over the congressional pork barrel, asked President Arroyo yesterday to resolve the raging word war between senators and congressmen.

Assistant Majority Leader Antonio Cerilles said Mrs. Arroyo should immediately call the leaders of the two chambers to a meeting to patch up their differences on the pork barrel issue since the Senate and the House are ruled by her allies.

"The President should immediately gather all congressional leaders, from the Senate President, House Speaker, majority leaders and their deputies down to the chairmen of the committees on appropriations or finance and ways and means, since our differences stemmed from her proposed national budget and tax bills," he said.

Echoing Cerilles’ appeal, Davao Oriental Rep. Joel Mayo Almario said unless Mrs. Arroyo intervenes in the Senate-House quarrel soon, her legislative program could be jeopardized.

Supporting his colleagues’ appeal, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr., who is vice chairman of the powerful Commission on Appointments, said the quarrel "is embarrassing for all of us as it exposes our political immaturity as a nation."

"How can we unite our people when we, their leaders, are squabbling for pogi (brownie) points?" he asked.

Pichay said the Senate should not use the pork barrel to demonize congressmen, though he admitted that he and his colleagues in the lower chamber need more funds for their districts.

"It does not serve any purpose to continue bickering, it is embarassing and counter-productive," he added.

The call for presidential intervention was made a day after Senate President Franklin Drilon called for a "ceasefire" in the bitter word war between senators and congressmen, which was sparked by the surprise Senate decision last Tuesday to adopt the House version of the 2005 budget.

Drilon said he would meet with Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., when the latter returns from Brussels, Belgium to thresh out their chambers’ differences. De Venecia is in Belgium attending a conference on federalism.

The surprise Senate decision prevented a bicameral conference (bicam) on the outlay from being convened. Had a bicam been convened, lawmakers would have increased their pork barrel allocations which Malacañang had cut by 40 percent to P120 million from P200 million per senator, and to P40 million from P70 million per congressman. House leaders had promised their members that the P30 million cut would be restored in the bicam.

Leaders of both the majority and minority blocks in the House supported the Senate president’s ceasefire idea.

"We want a stop to the word war which they (senators) started. The house is at the receiving end (of this controversy) because they accused us of trying to insert pork. This is not good parliamentary courtesy among Congress members," said Majority Leader Prospero Nograles.

Minority Leader Francis Escudero said he agreed with Drilon that the acrimony between senators and congressmen is not doing either side any good.

Escudero also said he does not believe any move to replace De Venecia in the wake of the new pork barrel controversy would prosper.

He said there is no group in the House with enough numbers to oust the Speaker.

For his part, Tarlac Rep. Gilberto Teodoro, the acknowledged leader of the Nationalist People’s Coalition bloc in the House, said he would not support a move to replace his House boss that is anchored on the reduction in the pork barrel.

"A system that is perceived as evil and a source of corruption by our people cannot be a valid and moral cause to change the leadership," he said.

Other congressmen have accused senators of turning the tables on them by accusing them of wanting more pork barrel funds after they (senators) were "caught red-handed by their own colleagues of stealing from the pork barrel."

They were referring to opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who told Makati businessmen last Monday that his colleagues had cut P1.3 billion from intelligence funds and diverted the amount to their pork barrel.

In Belgium, De Venecia said the House would move for Cha-cha (charter change) after Congress approves the President’s tax proposals.

"Constitutional reform has excited many Filipinos, especially in the regions, but we should launch it only after the approval of all the revenue measures sought by the President," he told the Third International Conference on Federalism.

It could just be a coincidence that De Venecia talked about constitutional reform at a time when his colleagues at home are advocating Cha-cha to abolish the Senate in the wake of the word war on the pork barrel.

De Venecia said federalism "is the best antidote to secession and separatism (in Mindanao)."