Mikey capable of handling House energy panel — Palace

07/12/2007

Malacañang yesterday defended presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo’s holding of a “sensitive” position in the House of Representatives, saying his ex-pertise on the committee on energy under Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is not necessarily important.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, during a press briefing, however, refused to comment when asked if President Arroyo intervened and contacted De Venecia to “reserve” the energy panel for her son if he is to secure the Speakership over rival Cebu congressman-elect Pablo Garcia Sr.

“We don’t have information on that,” he stressed.

But according to the Palace official, any member of the House has the

right to hold a position in the chamber.

“You know, all members in the House have the right to hold any committees that they believe they could very well handle. It does not mean that you have to be an expert in such a field. All that matters is your dedication in serving our people,” Ermita said.

The Palace official pointed out that when he was a member of the House, he used to hold several committee chairmanships even if he lacked expertise for the position.

“I’ve been the chairman of the committees on education, agriculture, among others but my capability to handle such committees had not been questioned,” Ermita said.

Reports have said Mrs. Arroyo personally asked De Venecia to ensure that the chairmanship of the committee on energy goes to Mikey.

The position was apparently offered by De Venecia earlier to another senior congressman from the Lakas group that supports the Speaker’s bid for a fifth term, and had not quite assured the presidential son of his getting it.

Sources earlier told the Tribune that Mikey went to his mother to seek her intervention, and the latest word is that the congressman from Pampanga will be getting the committee he asked for.

“He (Mikey) doesn’t know anything about energy,” the source noted, but “maybe he thinks that there may be money to be made, since big ticket items from the Energy department are being placed on the block — likeTransCo, for one.”

Another congressional source said the President also wants her son as chairman of the energy committee as he can thumb down objections to whatever Mrs. Arroyo wants to push, through the House energy committee.

Meanwhile, senior lawmakers also yesterday appealed to the warring political camps to stop using the Speakership race to create political instability as they urged their colleagues in the majority coalition to rally behind De Venecia “who is not only a battle-tested political leader but an internationally respected statesman.”

“What we need now is political stability, a firm and tested political leader and a proved statesman. Why should we gamble on our nation’s stability? We do no want to be wading in the dark at this time that the country is trying to cope with the strong waves of global competition,” Rep. Conrad Estrella, a third term representative of the 6th district of Pangasinan, said.

He urged all the camps in the Speakership contest to refrain from indulging in “damaging misinformation and disinformation” which only confuse the Filipino people.

“Subjecting them to misleading information is a great disservice to our people,” Estrella stressed.

Rep. Junie Cua of Quirino province, himself a third termer this coming 14th Congress, warned against “changing captains in midstream.”

“De Venecia’s leadership was very instrumental to the country’s economic turnaround. The economic policies formulated by Congress, most of which were initiated by De Venecia, and implemented by the Arroyo government continue to push our economic resurgence,” he said.

The lawmakers affirmed an earlier prediction made by Majority Leader Prospero Nograles that De Venecia will, in the end, be the hands-down pick for the Speakership. Sherwin C. Olaes and Gerry Baldo

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