from Inside Congress by Efren L. Danao (The Manila Times)
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/9986-the-report-against-villar
The New Year’s Eve was gone about three weeks ago but fireworks are certain to erupt once the report of the Senate Committee of the While seeking to censure Sen. Manny Villar is debated on the floor. This is any day soon with the report getting the signatures of the required majority of 12 (or, should it be 13?).
The Senate hit the ground running when it resumed its regular session last Monday by approving 14 bills on third and final reading. Four of these are priority measures, led by the Expanded Senior Citizens Act and the amendment to the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, both sponsored by reelectionist Sen. Pia Cayetano.
The New Year’s Eve was gone about three weeks ago but fireworks are certain to erupt once the report of the Senate Committee of the While seeking to censure Sen. Manny Villar is debated on the floor. This is any day soon with the report getting the signatures of the required majority of 12 (or, should it be 13?).
The Senate hit the ground running when it resumed its regular session last Monday by approving 14 bills on third and final reading. Four of these are priority measures, led by the Expanded Senior Citizens Act and the amendment to the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons, both sponsored by reelectionist Sen. Pia Cayetano.
However, the debate on the report of the Senate Committee of the Whole against Villar will inevitably lead to at least a session day’s delay in the consideration of other vital bills. I hope that Senate skippers JPE and Sen. Migz Zubiri can still steer these bills off rough waters in the remaining days of the Fourteenth Congress.
I am certain that there will be debates even on the number of votes needed to censure a senator, in this case Villar. If these were an ordinary piece of legislation, then the vote of majority of the senators present, there being a quorum, would suffice. But this is not an ordinary piece of legislation. Some say 12 would be sufficient because there are only 22 senators who could legally attend the session. Others contend it should be 13 because the Senate is supposed to be composed of 24 members. In the end, this debate will go down to a question of numbers.Jinggoy, Kiko hold the key
I must stress, though, that signing a committee report does not necessarily mean complete agreement with it. Many senators have signed reports with the notation “with reservations,” or in one case on a Senate investigation into the Northrail controversy “a useless report.” The signatures of the majority members of the committee are needed merely to report it out and file it. Now, I must confess I did not see if Sen. Jinggoy Estrada or Sen. Kiko Pangilinan signed the report against Villar without any reservations. The two had previously signed a resolution seeking to declare Villar innocent of the charged leveled against him by Sen. Jamby Madrigal.
The report said Villar committed conflict of interest in pursuing the C-5 road extension project that allegedly benefited his real estate holdings. It claimed that as a consequence, the government lost P6.22 billion which it asked Villar to repay.
A number of witnesses called by Madrigal testified that there was no realignment of the road project and that the price was not bloated. Villar and other members of the minority, however, did not participate in the hearing. Villar chose to defend himself before the media and in public forums. I don’t know if this is the correct strategy because I believe in the fairness of JPE as presiding officer of the Senate Committee of the Whole. But that’s water under the bridge. JPE said the committee could not accept as facts the documents and testimonies for Villar aired by the media.
Is Villar’s goose cooked? If Jinggoy and Kiko will do a somersault on their repeated avowals that they believed Villar was innocent, then Villar will most probably be censured. That will be an added ammunition of the Liberal Party against him.
Miriam goes out of bounds
I have always admitted the finesse of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago when attacking opponents. She uses colorful language that really smacks hard on target. I am afraid, however, that she was not so when she went ballistic against Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno last Monday. She used foul or unparliamentary language that I thought I could hear only from another female member of the Senate.
She went beyond the bounds of legislative propriety in her privileged speech when she called Puno “gago” a number of times. I hope she will realize her mistake and move for the deletion of this unparliamentary remark. I know that she is still angry at Puno for what she perceived to be his role in her defeat almost 18 years ago, but she need not disparage probinsyanos, of which I am one, in the process.
Yes, she called Puno a “pro-binsyano,” using her thick Ilongga accent, as if being a probinsyano is to belong to a low life (oops, that word was used by another senadora to describe reporters). I admire the celebral Senator Miriam who uses elegant language. I expect her to be reelected and when she returns to the Senate, I expect to see the old fiery Miriam use colorful language without descending to the gutter.
I must stress, though, that signing a committee report does not necessarily mean complete agreement with it. Many senators have signed reports with the notation “with reservations,” or in one case on a Senate investigation into the Northrail controversy “a useless report.” The signatures of the majority members of the committee are needed merely to report it out and file it. Now, I must confess I did not see if Sen. Jinggoy Estrada or Sen. Kiko Pangilinan signed the report against Villar without any reservations. The two had previously signed a resolution seeking to declare Villar innocent of the charged leveled against him by Sen. Jamby Madrigal.
The report said Villar committed conflict of interest in pursuing the C-5 road extension project that allegedly benefited his real estate holdings. It claimed that as a consequence, the government lost P6.22 billion which it asked Villar to repay.
A number of witnesses called by Madrigal testified that there was no realignment of the road project and that the price was not bloated. Villar and other members of the minority, however, did not participate in the hearing. Villar chose to defend himself before the media and in public forums. I don’t know if this is the correct strategy because I believe in the fairness of JPE as presiding officer of the Senate Committee of the Whole. But that’s water under the bridge. JPE said the committee could not accept as facts the documents and testimonies for Villar aired by the media.
Is Villar’s goose cooked? If Jinggoy and Kiko will do a somersault on their repeated avowals that they believed Villar was innocent, then Villar will most probably be censured. That will be an added ammunition of the Liberal Party against him.
Miriam goes out of bounds
I have always admitted the finesse of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago when attacking opponents. She uses colorful language that really smacks hard on target. I am afraid, however, that she was not so when she went ballistic against Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno last Monday. She used foul or unparliamentary language that I thought I could hear only from another female member of the Senate.
She went beyond the bounds of legislative propriety in her privileged speech when she called Puno “gago” a number of times. I hope she will realize her mistake and move for the deletion of this unparliamentary remark. I know that she is still angry at Puno for what she perceived to be his role in her defeat almost 18 years ago, but she need not disparage probinsyanos, of which I am one, in the process.
Yes, she called Puno a “pro-binsyano,” using her thick Ilongga accent, as if being a probinsyano is to belong to a low life (oops, that word was used by another senadora to describe reporters). I admire the celebral Senator Miriam who uses elegant language. I expect her to be reelected and when she returns to the Senate, I expect to see the old fiery Miriam use colorful language without descending to the gutter.
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