Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Monday night accused President Arroyo and her family of various wrongdoings as the latter’s allies in the House of Representatives formally set into motion their long standing plan to oust De Venecia.

In an emotional privilege speech that Arroyo’s allies in Congress earlier attempted to prevent him from delivering, De Venecia tried to expose as many of the “sins” of the First Family as possible, among them:

• That First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was behind attempts to charge him for corruption and to replace him as Speaker, after De Venecia’s son exposed Mr. Arroyo’s links to a Chinese firm that tried to overprice a government contract by US$200 million. (Click here to read “GMA Played Golf with Businessmen Who Bagged Broadband Deal".)
• That the President’s congressman sons, Juan Miguel of Pampanga and Diosdado of Camarines Sur, have been hoarding the congressmen’s pork barrel and dispensing them like dole outs. Congressmen “have to beg Malacañang” and “go through her sons” to get their just share of public works funds.
• That Malacañang ignored his letter to investigate the three generals who were said to be planning to assassinate him and his son Joey after the latter’s exposé on Mr. Arroyo and ZTE Corporation of China. “Simple, plain arrogance,” he said.
• That the Palace, in effect, rigged the bidding for the privatization of the Transmission Corporation so the contract would go to “somebody very close to the Arroyos.” (Click here to read "Disqualified Bidder Prepared to Pay $6 Billion for Transco".)
• That “there were many attempts to tamper with the results of the 2004 elections,” where President Arroyo emerged the winner. (Click here to read “Cheats Inc.”)
• That ports operator Enrique “Ricky” Razon, a known close ally of the President and funder of her choice candidates in past elections, is among those who control the pork barrel of the congressmen and the release of their shares in the road users’ tax.

De Venecia, however, excused himself from giving further details on his accusations because he was not allowed time to “consult a lawyer, write my speech, consult my family, consult my friends, and others in the coalition.”

He said he would talk about these issues some other time, prompting observers to think that he was probably testing how the President would react and possibly thwart moves to oust him. De Venecia delivered his speech after a motion was made and seconded that the seat of the Speaker be declared vacant.

“It pains me, grievously, to hurt the First Family,” De Venecia said, pointing out that he had helped President Arroyo “become many things.” He began his speech, in fact, by recalling that he was responsible for making then Senator Arroyo his vice presidential candidate under the Lakas party and for convincing President Joseph Estrada to appoint Arroyo as social welfare secretary. He recalled standing beside Ms. Arroyo during times when critics tried to unseat her.

“But I am full to the brim,” De Venecia said. He said the time had come for “a sinner” like him to change and denounce the “bribery, corruption, abuse of power, and arrogance” displayed by the First Family.

De Venecia’s wife Gina and son Joey were in the gallery. Joey was caught on TV camera wiping tears when his father said, “I cannot in conscience stop my son from telling the truth” on the $200-million overprice on the national broadband contract that President Arroyo’s husband was pushing.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, president of President Arroyo’s original party, the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), said they would push that the votes for a new Speaker be cast Monday night—not Tuesday afternoon, as his party and De Venecia agreed upon in an earlier caucus in the Palace—because everything that De Venecia said in his speech had no bearing on the issues they were raising against him as Speaker.

At around 8:30 p.m., the House started nominal voting on whether the seat of the Speaker should be declared vacant. In explaining his vote, the President’s younger son Diosdado stressed that his reason for favoring the motion was not personal vendetta, but a call to introduce reforms in the House.

The young congressman echoed Kampi’s line that they wanted a new Speaker because De Venecia had not been transparent in how he has been using the House’s funds. Congressmen not belonging to but supportive of Kampi’s position have also been complaining about De Venecia’s office allegedly diverting to his own use the funds intended for congressmen to be able to hire additional staff.

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño, explaining his “no” vote, said he was not in favor of a De Venecia leadership, but he was even more against Malacañang’s attempt to control the House more strongly than it used to under De Venecia.

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