Gonzales a disaster
for the house

Rep. Neptali Gonzales II has damaged the House of Representatives and Congress more than he had desired when he threatened to have Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco expelled by the House for testifying that the leadership of the chamber and the 118 solons of the prosecution had signed the impeachment complaint versus Chief Justice Renato Corona without the proper study of the particulars.

In the first place, that testimony by Tiangco before the Senate Impeachment Court had earlier been embodied in a privilege speech the solon had delivered on the House floor deploring the manner with which the leadership and the prosecution panel virtually railroad the impeachment issues against Corona.

In short, Gonzales, must have felt slighted by Tiangco’s revelation at the trial to a certain extent, only highlighted what had earlier been the subject of media criticism.

Although Tiangco’s testimony no longer had any bearing on the Senate’s acceptance of the impeachment papers, still we must doff our hats off to b e having braved the criticism of his colleagues in the House. Especially the 118 members of the prosecution panel.

As a bishop pointed out, Tiangco deserves to be congratulated for speaking out the truth and not for his expulsion from the House.

***

Yesterday, I had a talk with news media worker and some of Bacolod’s intelligence. This was on the Inquirer apology to Demetrio Vicente and the readers regarding the published photos of the aging stroke victim who witnessed for the defense of Chief Renato Corona. The Supreme Court and a lot of readers had denounced the Inquirer for its pictures which sort of denigrated Vicente, a stroke victim, for the various poses which held him up for ridicule and contempt.

The collective opinion of the readers was what surprised me – that the Inquirer has been perceived partial for the administration in the impeachment trial.

The surprise. The Philippine Star, despite the fact that Speaker Sonny Belmonte of the House was the spouse of Betty Go Belmonte, has remained fair and square in its reportage of the impeachment trial.

Of course, one of its columnists, has consistently been taking up the cudgels for the Aquino administration. But he is a columnist and is entitled to his opinion which must not necessarily be taken hook, line and sinker by the readers.

Still, by and large, the STAR seems to have played the finale as it should be impartially and without bias.

***

But let us leave aside the impeachment trial and the boring technicalities that often mar it for the TV audience.

Instead, the exciting news for Negrense is the reported forthcoming election in the Fifth District of the province to find for a replacement for Ignacio Arroyo, its late congressman.

Of course, there is nothing definite about the balloting. It is actually the Commission on Elections which will determine whether the elections will be held or not despite the House imprimatur.

But despite the uncertainly surrounding it, already a lot of speculations have been going around as to who will be the potential bets for the forthcoming election.

The more prominently mentioned aspirants are board member Melvin Ibañez, Ma. Lourdes Arroyo-Lesaca, Binalbagan Mayor Alejandro Mirasol, Emilio Yulo III and Quito Montilla.

Grace Ibuna, although reticent about her rumoured plans to run for the post vacated with the death of Iggy, may finally decide to throw her hat into the ring.

What makes that possible is the fact that she had been on television in two channels the past few days. Of course she was talking about her undying love for Iggy and her skirmish with Aleli, the wife of Iggy who had petitioned the court for the annulment of their marriage.

I have monitored goings on in the Fifth District, I must say though that Yulo seems to have stolen the thunder from the competition. He is supposed to have already made the rounds of the district. So with Mirasol.

Marilou, though, still has to hurdle the legal impediment on her chances of running for the post in the district. She is said to have cast her vote in the last polls in Manila.

Quito though, banks on his BIPA base but that is chancy as it is made up of various factions and could also splinter. But if they coalesced Quito may be a formidable force to reckon with.

Ibañez contends that he is waiting for the UNA imprimatur.The party, he said, will decide who eventually will be named as its bet.

Nobody seems to be talking about former Rep. Apolinario Lozada, Jr., the famous solon for the district whom Iggy decisively defeated. After having lost once, Lozada had been scarcely seen in the district. Thus, his chance of staging a comeback is problematic.

Oh, well, the elections are still in April or May.*

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