Jose de Venecia Jr.
Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives | |
---|---|
In office July 23, 2001 – February 5, 2008 | |
President | Gloria Macapagal Arroyo |
Preceded by | Feliciano Belmonte Jr. |
Succeeded by | Prospero Nograles |
In office July 27, 1992 – June 30, 1998 | |
President | Fidel V. Ramos |
Preceded by | Ramon Mitra Jr. |
Succeeded by | Manny Villar |
Member of the House of Representatives from Pangasinan | |
In office June 30, 2001 – June 30, 2010 | |
Preceded by | Benjamin Lim |
Succeeded by | Gina de Venecia |
Constituency | 4th district |
In office June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1998 | |
Preceded by | Antonio Villar Sr. |
Succeeded by | Benjamin Lim |
Constituency | 4th district |
In office December 30, 1969 – September 23, 1972 | |
Preceded by | Jack Laureano Soriano |
Succeeded by | District abolished (next held by Antonio Bengson III) |
Constituency | 2nd district |
Personal details | |
Born | Dagupan, Pangasinan, Commonwealth of the Philippines | December 26, 1936
Political party | Lakas–CMD (1991-2008; 2020–present) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (2008–2020) LDP (1987–1991) Liberal (1969-1987) |
Spouse(s) | Victoria Perez (divorced) Georgina Vera-Perez |
Residence(s) | Dagupan, Philippines |
Alma mater | Ateneo de Manila University (BA) |
Occupation | Politician |
Profession | Journalist |
Jose Claveria de Venecia Jr. (Tagalog pronunciation:
Beginning in 1987, De Venecia has been elected to six terms as a Representative of the
Early life and career
De Venecia was born in
In 1947, he finished his elementary studies at the Dagupan Elementary School where he was accelerated by one year. He completed his secondary education at the De La Salle College High School, and finished Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila, being an outstanding Associate Editor of The Guidon and Editor-in-Chief of the school annual, The Aegis.
As an entrepreneur, de Venecia pioneered overseas contract work for Filipinos where he was one of the first Philippine prime contractors in the Middle East and North Africa in the mid-1970s. He hired 51,000 Filipinos for his companies and engaged in port operations in
De Venecia was a diplomat as Minister-Economic Counselor from 1966 to 1969. He conceived and implemented the historic dollar-remittance program for overseas Filipino workers worldwide. He was one of the Ten Outstanding Congressmen before martial law in the Philippines.
Speaker of the House (1992–1998)
He was reelected in 1992 and joined the newly created party,
Peace envoy
As Ramos' peace envoy, Speaker De Venecia reached out to insurgent groups
In 1992, De Venecia began secret talks with leaders of the military rebels, led by Commodore Calajate, Gen. Abenina, and Col. Honasan, which led to a ceasefire in December of that year and a final peace agreement in 1995. In April 1997, De Venecia journeyed to the Netherlands to meet with self-exiled leaders of the
1998 presidential election
In 1998, the dominant party
De Venecia garnered the second highest number of votes in a field of 11 candidates, though he was far behind the winner, Joseph Estrada. After he lost his bid, he departed from media attention and political limelight. In one of his interviews, De Venecia said that he was depressed and took several months to recover.
Reentry to the politics
De Venecia reemerged on New Year's Day of 2001 calling for a smooth transition of power to the Vice President. Estrada belittled de Venecia's statements, however, the former was ousted January 20 of that year.
Speaker of the House (2001–2008)
In the
NBN-ZTE scandal
On July 10, 2007, De Venecia's supporters opposed secret balloting by the majority coalition to select the speaker of the House of Representatives in the Fourteenth Congress. Rep. Eduardo Zialcita of Parañaque, said the House is not a "secret society." [2] Meanwhile, Sorsogon Rep. Jose Solis accused De Venecia's son, Jose de Venecia III, for questioning a $330 million broadband connection deal between the Philippine government and Chinese firm ZTE. Solis hit De Venecia III for desiring to have his Amsterdam Holdings, Inc. (AHI) get the deal (which will connect national government agencies to local government units through the Internet and save government up to P3 billion in telephone expenses every year). Solis further claimed that AHI is a "veritable mom's-and-pop's enterprise with a reported paid-up capital of only P650,000. How can AHI possibly undertake this project when it may not even have enough funds to run a mini grocery?" [3]
Re-election as Speaker
On July 23, 2007, 159 lawmakers picked De Venecia House Speaker for 5th time—after the House commenced at 2:17 pm, a roll-call vote for the position. De Venecia was the lone nominee, while his opponent, Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia, was not nominated. Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor was elected Majority Leader while San Juan Rep. Ronaldo Zamora was elected minority leader. The 14th Congress of the House of Representatives is composed of 240 lawmakers, 21 of whom are party-list representatives. [4] [5]
Ousted as Speaker
On January 31, 2008, Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) announced that 134 congressmen signed a manifesto of "loss of confidence" versus Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. Camarines Sur's 2nd district Rep. Luis Villafuerte, KAMPI president, said the successor should be Davao City's 1st district representative Prospero Nograles.[2]
During the regular session on February 4, 2008, Palawan Representative Abraham Kahlil Mitra moved that the position of House Speaker be declared vacant.[3] Before the motion was submitted to a vote, De Venecia delivered a speech before the House where he criticized President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and alleged that her government was behind the move to oust him from the speakership.[4] He recounted the times he had stood to defend President Arroyo, and said, "It pains me grievously to hurt the President and to hurt the First Family because I have invested so much more than any of you in this chamber to help the President become Vice President, become President…." Shortly after his remarks, de Venecia acknowledged to reporters: "I will join the opposition to denounce corruption in this administration. I will join the battle against corruption." [5]
During his speech at the House plenary, De Venecia said that three military generals visited his house. They were accompanied by Raul Lambino.
General Santos, commanding general of the Philippine Army, commander of the United Nations Forces in East Timor, came to my house accompanied by Attorney Raul Lambino, who is his friend, and who is also my friend, and he said, 'Mr. Speaker you and your son [should] keep quiet because they want to kill you and I know they can kill you and I know they have killed other people.
De Venecia's son reported the incident to the Makati police. The Speaker, meanwhile, wrote a letter to President Arroyo to ask her to do something about the threat on their lives.
My son reported this to the Makati Police and in the same day following, General Santos, such a respected general of the Armed Forces, changed his tune and said he never said such a thing. How could he say that he never said such a thing when he came to my house to ask me to listen to his story, accompanied by Raul Lambino in the presence of my son Joey, in the presence of my wife Gina.
The Speaker said he asked Mrs. Arroyo in a letter to "please do something."
So I wrote a letter to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Dear Madam President, I write to you because General Santos came to see me and said to me, and confessed to me that they wanted to kill myself and my son and that they have killed other people. I asked you because these three generals belonged to your government, please do something. That was late October of last year. Do you think up to know Malacanang has lifted a finger to arrest or to investigate these attempts on my life and of my son?
"It's simple arrogance. Just plain arrogance that Malacañang and the people of the Palace are above the law. Someday this can happen to you," he said. The speech was delivered hours after
Post-speakership
Shortly after midnight, February 5, 2008, 174 members of the House voted in favor of the motion to declare the position of House Speaker as vacant, removing de Venecia from his position. 35 members voted against the motion while 16 members abstained.[6] Nograles was elected as the new House Speaker.
On March 10, 2008, De Venecia resigned his post as president of Lakas–CMD. Since then, he has remained active. In 2010, he travelled to the United States to speak to Filipino people who were living and working there. He mentioned that overseas workers sent over US$18 billion home every year and said about this: "This is your contribution. You must be aware of it, you should be proud of it. This is why we call you the heroes and heroines of the Filipino people."[7]
In April 2017, De Venecia was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Special Envoy for Inter-Cultural Dialogue. The Department of Foreign Affairs said that as special envoy, De Venecia would serve to advise the administration on policies regarding cultural diversity and citizen participation under the UNESCO declaration.[8]
De Venecia joined the second incarnation of Lakas–CMD in 2020.[9]
Performance rating
On January 7, 2008, the
Personal life
De Venecia married Victoria Perez, the daughter of
De Venecia then married
House fire
On December 17, 2004, a fire originating from Christmas tree lights gutted de Venecia's house in
References
External links
- The biography of Jose de Venecia Jr.
- The official website of Jose de Venecia Jr.
- The official website of the Philippine House of Representatives
Notes
- ^ "List of Honorary Doctorates".
- ^ Abs-Cbn Interactive, KAMPI expecting new speaker by Monday[permanent dead link]
- ^ "121 votes to declare Speakership vacant reached". Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
- ^ "JDV: Palace behind ouster plot against me". ABS-CBN News Online. February 4, 2008. Archived from the original on July 9, 2007. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
- ^ "De Venecia declares 'war' against Arroyo". Philippine Daily Inquirer. February 4, 2008. Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
- ^ "De Venecia ousted as House speaker". Philippine Daily Inquirer. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on February 7, 2008. Retrieved February 5, 2008.
- ^ Philippines political leader visits Kodiak, Kodiak Mirror, September 14, 2010
- ^ Viray, P.L. (May 9, 2017). "Duterte appoints De Venecia as special envoy". The Philippine Star. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
- ^ "Arroyo, De Venecia reunite as Lakas-CMD vow to 'win' members back". Rappler. March 9, 2020. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
- ^ Abs-Cbn Interactive, SWS: Satisfaction marks for Villar, de Castro at all-time high[permanent dead link]
- ^ Sheila Coronel (March 14, 2007). "The Seven Ms of Dynasty Building". i-Report Online. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. Archived from the original on February 26, 2008. Retrieved March 6, 2008.
- ^ Romie A. Evangelista & Ferdinand Fabella (December 18, 2004). "JdV daughter dies in fire". Manila Standard Today. Retrieved April 15, 2008.